A Path Through Time
by Killing Reality
Summary: When Himura Kenshin falls down a well during a fight with Hajime Saito he finds himself in the past and greeted by a strange girl and a half demon. How will the Batousai fair in the past?
1. Chapter 1

_**So this is my first crossover with Rurouni Kenshin and Inuyasha, It's just an idea that has been in my head for a while and I figured I'd get it down for a change. I hope you enjoy the first chapter, it's quite long so I'm happy with myself **_

**Chapter 1**

"So we meet again Himura Batousai" came a snarled voice from a dark alley, shuffled steps followed the sound until a tall dark haired male stood before smaller red haired swordsman.

"Saito" Came Batousai's response before he jumped away from the Shinsengumi captain and moved his hand towards his sword hilt but did not draw, not yet. Saito's eyes glimmered with barely contained excitement as he slowly drew his Katana and lowered himself into a fighting stance keeping his eyes locked with the Hitorkiri in front of him.

They both remained still for a long moment before Saito moved his sword, but didn't attack at first, he instead positioned it for his famed gatotsu strike.

Kenshin's eyes widened slightly as he took in the stance then without given an opportunity to think he drew his own sword at last using his batoujutsu technique and just barely evaded Saito's initial attack but he didn't have long to recover, Saito quickly advanced with a slash, aiming for Kenshin's briefly exposed side but the Hitorkiri had predicted such a move and jumped upwards and high into the sky to perform his Ryutsuisen but Saito moved away at the last second, without a second thought Kenshin gave chase and sent a slash towards Saito's head but was blocked and pushed back.

They continued blocking and parrying until they were both out of breath but they still not release or sheath their swords Saito smirked before he once again positioned himself for gatotsu, Kenshin readied himself.

Saito surged forward rapidly and Kenshin stepped backwards and to the side to dodge the attack, he was about to retaliate with his own but he was no longer stood on the ground, and realised he was falling, he looked up and saw that he had fallen down a well, as he kept falling his vision began to fade before he was unconscious.

"I'll be back soon Inuyasha you know that, just three days as usual" A dark haired teen was saying cheerfully, a yellow rucksack on her back.

"It's not the time to be going at all! We need to find Naraku's castle! He's getting stronger every day." Came an angered voice, owned by a half demon wearing a red kimono, he had long silver hair which was adorned by small dog ears.

"Oh please, that's a given, but it's not like we haven't been looking for him every day! I need to get back and study for my test! I'm doing terrible in history! And if I don't pass this test I can't get into high school!"

"That's why I said you should give up with this school thing. It's not getting you anywhere apart from further from Naraku!"

"Inuyasha!"

"Wait no Kagome! I'm Sorry!"

"SIT! Now I'll be three days, leave me alone until I come back!" The black haired teen said angered and stormed off towards the familiar well which linked her back to her own time. Unaware that something had caught Inuyasha's attention.

"Wait Kagome!"

"What now Inuyasha?" Kagome asked annoyed but once she saw the concern in Inuyasha's yellow orbs she soon started to worry. "What is it Inuyasha?"

"It's a new scent, but it's coming from the well" Before Kagome could ask anymore Inuyasha leaped towards the well and cautiously looked down, he frowned in confusion but didn't make any other movements. Kagome slowly walked up next to him and looked down also, she gasped in surprise as she saw a young male lying at the bottom of the well, a sword lying discarded next to him and a cross shaped scar adorning his left cheek.

"He looks like a Samurai. Do you think he's alright?" Kagome asked casually but Inuyasha was still not responding. "Inuyasha?"

"He doesn't smell from here." He simply stated.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't think that he's from this time."

"You mean, that he's like me? But he doesn't look from my time either. I wonder what's happening."

'_He's definitely from the past, he doesn't seem to be from this time, maybe he's not too far from my time. Argh I knew I should have studied more in history then I might have at least some idea.'_

Kagome was snapped out of her thought when she saw the man start to stir. Without thinking she grabbed Inuyasha and ducked out of sight.

"What are you doing?!" Inuyasha yelled in a whisper.

"I don't know! I don't know what to do about this! We should help him!"

"Then why are you hiding?!"

"I don't know"

"Who's up there?!"

Kagome and Inuyasha froze when they heard the voice carry up the well.

"You stay here" Kagome said "He might not have seen a demon before, he could react badly and I've got a strange feeling about this guy."

"That makes two of us." Inuyasha grumbled quietly as he watched Kagome poke her head back over the well.

Initially she was surprised, he looked very young to be a samurai, older than her of course, or maybe of similar age, she couldn't tell from the distance. But his eyes were those of a killer, and she could tell that he had killed plenty.

"My name is Kagome. Do you know where you are?"

"Of course, I am in Kyoto!"

Before Kagome could ask anything else he suddenly jumped and bounced from once side of the wall to the other before he swiftly landed outside the well in front of the two. He looked at the two quickly before his eyes widened in shock and he drew his sword.

"Ahh, definitely haven't seen a demon before."

"What are you talking about? What are those strange clothes you are wearing? Why is there a demon before me?! Where am I? Who are you?!"

Kenshin was confused, he was looking at a male that looked to be a demon and a girl that was wearing strange clothes and the land was unrecognisable. He looked to the girl again, she had fear and concern etched on her face and looked to the demon who had now drawn his own sword which was considerably larger and seemed to be made of some strange type of metal.

"Please, calm down. I know you are confused, but I can at least try and explain. But please put your sword away." Kenshin's amber eyes flicked back to the girl who had daringly taken a step towards him. "Same for you Inuyasha, put the Tetsusaiga away, you'll make him nervous." Inuyasha looked to Kagome for a second in which she nodded encouragingly before he locked his amber eyes with the man in front of him.

Slowly and reluctantly Kenshin put away his sword, but kept his hand near it in case he needed it.

"Okay, that's a good start. Now as I said before my name is Kagome, this is Inuyasha, he's a half demon. My clothes are strange because I'm from a different time period. Which I think you are too. I'm probably from your future, and Inuyasha belongs here in the time period we are in now, which is probably your past."

Kenshin remained silent for a long moment before he looked between the two repeatedly.

"How far into the past?" He asked in a whisper.

"I couldn't say for certain without knowing with time period you came from."

"Well that is what we are fighting about at the moment, currently we are still in the Edo Tokugawa Shogunate"

"Ahh, that's not too far away from my time, so you would be about 150 years behind me, I'm around 500 years ahead of Inuyasha, so that would make you around 350 years into the past." Kagome said brightly but it gained no response from the young Samurai. They were all silent for a long moment before Kagome got too uncomfortable. "So what is your name?" With the question the young man looked up again, his eyes no longer yellow but a soft lilac, although they were still narrowed into a harsh frown.

"Himura Batousai"

Kagome was stunned. She had heard that name before, in fact it was the only thing that she had paid attention to in lesson.

'_Himura Batousai, his more famed name was Hitorkiri Batousai, for he was indeed a manslayer, people had referred to him as a demon, he played a major role in the Bakumatsu, first as an assassin then as a skilled warrior, he carved the way with his sword to create the Meiji era, and once he had he had disappeared completely. Never heard from again, no one knew if he had died or just went into hiding to live the rest of his life in peace.'_

"Well." Kagome started meekly suddenly losing her voice with the shock. It's not the end of the world, you should be able to go back your own time. I can whenever I like, just jump down the well again and you should be transported back."

"Are you certain?"

"It works for me." Kagome said with a smile but they all knew it was forced. Kenshin had an inkling as to the reason of the sudden change in personality and haste to have him gone. Inuyasha knew there was something wrong but didn't know what and just looked at her confused.

Felling slightly saddened about the sudden hostility he moved towards the well and without hesitating jumped down it, before he hit the bottom and didn't transport, he looked back up and saw that the girl and the demon were still there watching. Immediately angered he leapt back up and grabbed Kagome.

"It didn't work! You tricked me! I need to get back!" He shouted furiously, his eyes a glowing yellow once again, suddenly he was shoved off and thrown to the ground, he recovered instantly and his eyes landed on the half demon who had once again drawn Tetsusaiga. Kenshin moved his hand to the hilt of his katana and lowered his stance, locking eyes with Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, don't, he's too skilled with the sword!" But Inuyasha just huffed and set off to attack, jumping high into the air and swinging Tetsusaiga down but Kenshin had already moved out of harms way and had circled around to be behind Inuyasha.

"Fast aren't you?" He said as he swung the fang again to behind him, this time Kenshin jumped high drawing his sword in a flash and attacked with his Ryutsuisen cutting Inuyasha from his shoulder across his torso.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome shouted and ran towards the now still body of Inuyasha "Inuyasha!" She called again and felt the demon twitch from under her. Relieved that he was still moving she turned her gaze to Kenshin who had just wiped his sword clean and returned it to its saya.

"There was no need for this! I don't know why the well didn't work but it's something we figure out! We don't attack people for no reason! You really are a monster!"

Kenshin was stunned, as if he was hit by the girls words, he looked at the scene in front of him, the girl crying, trying to wake the demon who was covered in blood from his wound which appeared to be slowly closing.

"I'm….Sorry…."

_**Well I hope you enjoyed the first Chapter I enjoyed writing it and I'll be sure to update, as well as my other Inuyasha crossover. **_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Here's the second chapter, this one is probably a bit slow going, but it is kind of introducing the plot so it's a needed one I'm afraid. Well I hope you enjoy it.**_

**Chapter 2**

Kagome was stunned for a moment as she looked to the Hitokiri, he held his head down as if in apology and his fists were clenched at his sides with his arms shaking. Kagome was about to ask if he was okay but Inuyasha stirred once more and drew her attention back to him.

"Inuyasha, are you alright?" She asked as he slowly got up.

"Yeah I'm fine" He said anger toning his voice as he glared at the young warrior. He moved again and stood, wobbling slightly before Kagome placed her hands on him to steady him. He put a hand to his wound and pulled it away and saw the blood dripping on his hand. "If I was a normal human that would have killed me." He stated, he didn't sound angry, just surprised at the power of the man before him. He looked to Kagome who obviously knew something about him but he would have to wait until later before he could find out.

"I am sorry" came the voice again, he was still looking down and Inuyasha stared at him for a long moment before he moved again to pick up his sword. Seeing the demon move towards his weapon Kenshin's sword arm twitched before he controlled it when Inuyasha put away his Tetsusaiga.

"Well it's obvious that you are too used to battle to be able to stop yourself once you get going. But that isn't a good thing to have around innocent people." Inuyasha said sternly, glancing a look to Kagome. "But it wouldn't be unhelpful against all the demons that we have here." He said before he started to walk off towards Kaede's village. Kagome's head flicked between the two of them before she settled on Kenshin.

"That means it's okay, and if you want, while you are trying to find a way back to your own time you could stay with us, we come across a few dangerous demons every so often so the help would be appreciated, also I'll help you find a way back to your own time if no one else will." Kenshin was silent for a long moment, staring at the girl in surprise.

"I- Thank you, Kagome Dono" He said and Kagome noticed for the first time that he seemed completely relieved as well as sincere, his eyes were wider and back to a soft lilac instead of the glaring yellow.

"No problem, well we should at least get you to the village and introduce you to Sango and Miroku." Kagome said with a smile that was no longer forced and led the way back to the village trailing behind Inuyasha who was already so far ahead.

"So, you mentioned that he was a half demon?" Kenshin asked curiously, obviously having only heard of demons in stories he was unnerved to have been standing in front of one, and even fighting with one.

"Yeah, his father was a great dog demon, while his mother was a human. He has a brother but he mother was a full demon so of course they hate each other." She said with a sigh, Kenshin picked up on it and inquired further.

"Why is that?"

"I'm not entirely sure, I guess Sesshoumaru has always taken a disliking to his brother because he is a half demon, they are very disliked among other demons, as well as humans."

"But even so, Inuyasha is his still his brother, and it isn't by choice that he is a half demon, if this Sesshoumaru was to dislike anybody it would have to be his own father for choosing to be with a human."

Inuyasha had stopped as he heard the conversation between the two continue, Kagome was surprised at the sudden sense the warrior had spoken.

"I suppose you're right"

"That guy hates me because I was able to pick up Tetsusaiga and he wasn't! Plus even if he didn't have anything against me being a half demon we wouldn't get along anyway because of our personalities!" Inuyasha stated angrily before he stormed off once again. Kagome just laughed as her and Kenshin carried on walking.

"So I'm sure Himura Batousai isn't your proper name. Do you think you could be able to tell me what it is?"

"You know it already don't you?" Kenshin asked, slightly annoyed as he knew that Kagome had heard of him and should have known his name already.

"I don't, we've only just started learning about the war that you are currently in and they haven't said your proper name, only Hitokiri Batousai, or Himura Batousai." Kenshin didn't respond for a while and just carried on walking in silence, noticing the dog demon glancing back at the two every so often.

"Kenshin. Himura Kenshin." Kagome smiled when he told her and nodded in response.

"Thank you." She said.

They soon arrived at the village and entered Kaede's hut, Sango and Miroku were startled to see Inuyasha injured and immediately made a move to take a look.

"Cool off It's nothing! IT's already healing."

"But Inuyasha, it's such a deep wound, you should at least bandage it up." Sango said caringly, Kagome took the cue to reach to the pile of bandages that were to one side and struggled with Inuyasha before he eventually relented and allowed her to bandage up his wound. With the commotion of Inuyasha's injury Sango and Miroku had not noticed Kenshin entering the hut, he had silently slipped off his sandals and sat down in a corner, keeping a grip on his sword.

"Who's that?" Shippo asked loudly and everyone looked towards the warrior in the corner.

"That's Himura Kenshin" Kagome said. "He's going to be travelling with us for a while." They were all quiet as they stared at him curiously. Sango was the first to snap out of it and went up towards him but still kept a fair distance.

"Hello, my name is Sango, I'm a demon slayer." She said but the only response was a nod of acknowledgment, realising that was all she was getting she moved back over to Miroku and sat down.

"My name is Miroku. I'm a priest." He said and got the same response.

"This is Shippo, he's a fox demon" Kagome continued, and over there sleeping is Kaede, she's the priestess and looks after this village we are in.

"If I could just ask, it may seem rude of me but you look like you could be a warrior, but look very young for it. Could I just ask your age?" Sango enquired curiously, and everyone was now staring at the small male in the corner of the room and he looked to be giving it some thought, as if he needed to remember how old he was.

"I'm seventeen" he stated.

"Wow, I'm not sure if you get this a lot but, you look a lot younger, maybe around fourteen."

But Kenshin didn't respond again and stayed silent in the corner while the others looked around them nervously.

"Well I still need to get back for that test, you stay here Inuyasha, I don't want you hurting yourself."

With that Kagome left on her own leaving the others in an uncomfortable silence with the newcomer.

"Those were some crazy sword moves." Inuyasha stated looking at Kenshin who lifted his head in response and noticed that the bandage was already starting to seep with the blood. "I've never seen any like that before, although I can't say I've seen the same battles you have. I just sort of swing mine around." Sango and Miroku looked at each other stunned, baffled that Inuyasha had admitted he had little skill with the sword, although they can't say that his lack of talent has stopped him from being able to defeat his foes. Kenshin gave a slight smile before he responded.

"That was rather obvious, a monkey could probably predict your moves." Sango and Miroku tried to supress their laughs at the sudden insult from the practically silent man.

"What was that?!"

"What? It's obvious that you have never needed to think tactically to defeat any opponent, or had to predict moves from your foes. Your way of fighting is different because it doesn't have to pay attention to those details, you can swing blindly because your enemies don't require that much effort to be defeated other than brute force. That's how you win, you probably have to pay attention to timing a little depending on limited techniques but that's all. You are strong, but you will never defeat true swordsman in a fight. Their way of thinking would beat you before you make your first move."

Everyone settled into another uncomfortable silence again while Inuyasha glared at the red haired swordsman, trying to think of something to say to the teen that had angered him. Sango shifted her eyes uncomfortably from one male to the next, Shippo had taken the opportunity to check on Kaede who was stirring from her sleep and Miroku decided to take a sudden keen interest in the empty cook pot.

"Are you meaning to say that _you _would be able to defeat me?" Inuyasha snarled.

"I already did remember. Your life was spared because of Kagome-Dono and your demon blood which allows you to heal quicker than a human. If you were a normal man we wouldn't be having this discussion."

"You're pretty cocky aren't you? You want another round?!" Inuyasha was getting more and more angry and started to rise but suddenly clutched his wound and stopped midway "Damnit! This is taking too long to heal!" He shouted before he sat back down.

"I have experience in tending to sword wounds. If you let me take a look I should be able to assist in stopping the bleeding, that should make it heal at least a little bit faster." Inuyasha stared at Kenshin for a long moment, taking in his now lilac eyes, wider and seeming more alive than when they first met but holding a deep sadness, Inuyasha felt that there were a lot of horror the young frame of a man had witness and that he wanted to help was a sign of still being good through them.

"Fine." He grumbled, smiling Kenshin moved over towards the half demon and removed the blood soaked bandages, the wound was still deep and hadn't healed much, he asked Sango and Miroku to get some fresh water and towels which they returned with almost immediately. He dipped one towel into the water and started cleaning around the wound but didn't touch the gash, he then pulled something from a pouch on his side and added it to the water and dipped another towel into it.

"This is going to sting, it's a salve that helps to clean wounds, it also creates a small seal on the cut which helps the blood to clot quicker and stops the bleeding, but you can't exert yourself while it is healing or it will open back up." Inuyasha just nodded in acknowledgment and Kenshin slowly dabbed the wet towel over the deep slash. After a minute he was done and got a fresh bandage and recovered the wound. "There, all done, usually for a human this kind of wound can take around a week to heal to the point of not reopening, then will eventually heal into a scar, but judging you to be a demon it would probably take a lot less time, I'd say with your rate of healing it'll be fully healed in three days."

"That's when Kagome will get back!" Shippo called excitedly now with Kaede who had woken up completely.

"And who is this young man?" She asked as she joined the group.

"This is Himura Kenshin." Shippo said, Kenshin bowed in greeting and Kaede did likewise.

"My name is Kaede, I am the priestess of this village. Tell me young man, where are you from? You do not appear to be from around here."

"No, I'm from Kyoto, but from a different time, according to Kagome Dono I am from your future, but her past."

"I see, that is very interesting indeed. Did you perhaps come from the well?"

"Yes I remember falling down one before I woke up here, but when I tried to go back down the well I was not returned to my own time."

"Hmm, it is quite possible that there is another well that is similar to the one we have here. The well here links Kagome's world to our, however if you fell through one that was in Kyoto then there may be another well there in this time that you must go through to get back to your own time."

"If that's the case Kaede then why didn't he arrive through that one?" Inuyasha asked. Kenshin looked to Inuyasha as he spoke then returned his gaze to the priestess questioningly.

"It is quite possible that because of the closeness of Kagome who was about to return to her own world through the well the paths were crossed and instead of arriving though the well in Kyoto he arrived though the well that was here."

"So in order to return to my own world, I would need to travel to Kyoto." Kenshin stated but it sounded like a question.

"It would seem so." Kaede said.

"So, back to Kyoto then" Kenshin said, but there was a tone of sadness in his voice and he returned his gaze to the floor.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to get another one up soon **___

_**~Killing Reality**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Here's another chapter, I hope that you have been enjoying it so far, this one is slow going again, I promise something proper will happen in the next chapter! Well I hope you enjoy the chapter.**_

**Chapter 3**

'_Hmm, I wonder how everyone is getting on with Kenshin, I'm sure Inuyasha will be picking fights with him every two seconds. I hope he doesn't though he might re open his wound or something.'_

"Is something on your mind Kagome?"

"Yeah, you've been out of it for a while now."

"Is your delinquent boyfriend troubling you again?"

Came the concerned questions of Kagome's three best friends.

"Well, not really, I mean he did get hurt yesterday so I'm a little worried, but he doesn't usually get bothered by wounds and stuff."

"He got hurt?"

"Did he get into a fight?"

"Yeah, he was just trying to protect me I think, there was this other guy who overreacted about something and was getting angry at me."

"Wow, so he was protecting you? He must really like you."

"You said he got injured though? Did this other guy beat him?"

"Yeah pretty much."

"Wow, that's really shocking." Her friends all said at once. "He must have been really strong to beat your violent boyfriend"

"I guess, but anyway, we need a change of topic. Can you guys lend me your notes for the history section, I have no clue about anything!"

"Yeah of course Kagome." One of her friends replied cheerfully.

They all walked to a nearby store and got the notes copied before they went their separate ways, when Kagome got home she had dinner with her family before going to her room and started her studying.

"Hey, this bit is about the time Kenshin was in" Kagome said to herself as she flicked through the notes.

"Himura Batousai, worked as an Assassin for approximately one year in the shadows of the Isshin Shishi, at the age of fourteen taking down important people without ever revealing his identity. However at the time of the Ikedaya incident when the Shinsengumi rose to popularity the Batousai had vanished completely, he returned at the age of sixteen and openly opposed the Shinsengumi for the remainder of the war and fought in the deciding battle in the Boshin war at the battle of Toba Fushimi. Once the battle had ended he had once again disappeared, never to be seen again."

"That sounds pretty important." Came a voice from Kagome's doorway, she turned and saw her mother carrying a tray with a cup of tea on it. "But I remember the story, and what happened to him after."

"What?"

Kagome's mother placed the tray beside Kagome and smiled.

"On old friend of mine runs a dojo, he says Himura Kenshin was an old relative of his, in fact I think he must have been a great, great grandfather or something. They have the same surname at least."

"Really?! That's amazing, I wish I could go and see them."

"Of course you could, his lessons still run at this time and they are just around the corner, just pop in and say hi for me and he'll be talking you to death in no time."

"Thanks mum, I'm going to go right now."

Kagome quickly changed out of her pyjamas into some casual clothes and sprinted away from the house once she got outside, her mother had handed her a slip of paper with directions on it and she soon arrived at the dojo. Suddenly nervous she walked slowly towards the entrance and heard students inside. One she got in she slipped off her shoes and looked around the many students before she saw a flash of bright red hair. The sign above the hair stated that the school was the Kamiya Kasshin – Ryu.

Not long after she entered the lesson finished and the students bowed respectively before they filed out of the dojo, leaving their Shinai on the racks by the walls.

"How may I help you? If you wanted a lesson you've arrived a little too late, the last one just finished now." Kagome turned her attention from the doorway to the man who was speaking to her and froze, he looked exactly like Kenshin, only a little older and instead of soft lilac eyes his were a bright blue, his hair had been grown to the same length and tied up and was wearing a blue kimono with a dark grey hakama, exactly like his far predecessor.

"Ah, sorry my name his Kagome Higarashi, my mother sent me" she said and bowed lowly.

"Higarashi, I do remember that name, how is your mother doing?" He asked and suddenly he had childlike eyes full of joy, the complete opposite of what she had seen in Kenshin.

"She's doing fine, I'm a little confused though, the name of the school is Kamiya, but wouldn't your surname be Himura?"

"It's a bit of a long story, here come take a seat." The male lead her to another room and set out a kotatsu and two seats and prepared some tea.

"Kamiya is the surname of my great, great grandmother, she married Himura Kenshin which I have no doubt is the person you want to ask about." Kagome was about to respond but the man in front of her raised an eyebrow questioningly and she remained silent. He smiled before he continued. "In case you were wondering my name is Himura Kenjo. My family seemed to have this strange obsession with keeping Ken in our names. I'll probably do the same though. But anyway back to the story, as I've just said Kamiya is the surname of my great, great grandmother, her full name before she was married was Kamiya Kaoru then when she got married that changed to Himura Kaoru of course."

"When was this?" Kagome blurted and interrupted Kenjo but he just smiled at her eagerness to learn.

"This would have been maybe fifteen years into the Meiji Era, he had met her eleven years after and lived together ever since really, apart from a little time where Kenshin went to Kyoto."

"How come?"

"His services were asked for by the government and he was placed in a position where he could not refuse."

"I see, what was it that he had to do?"

"They asked him to kill again." Kagome looked confused for a moment before Kenjo continued. "I forgot to mention that at the beginning of the Meiji era my old grandfather had taken an oath to never kill again, a representation of this was his Sakabatou, his reverse blade sword, when he was asked he journeyed to Kyoto but along the way his sword was broken by someone and he was to find another. In time he did."

"Did he kill again?" Kagome asked nervously.

"No, the person whose life he was asked to take ended before he had to end it himself. His oath was never broken."

"That's a relief." Kagome said with a smile.

"But seems a long way off from how he appears now right?" Kenjo looked at Kagome expectantly while she stared at him stunned. "The story was told to me a long time ago by my great grandfather, who of course had heard it straight from his father."

"But that's so strange."

"And you travelling to the past frequently isn't? Well for obvious reasons I can't tell you anything, other than I know he is there, don't mention me to him either, or anything you know about his future."

"Of course, I wouldn't dream of it. But could I just ask you one more question?" Kagome asked and she suddenly seemed a little nervous.

"Whatever you like."

"How old are you?" Suddenly Kenjo burst out laughing.

"Kenshin had that a lot as well, I'm twenty eight." Kagome's eyes widened, he had looked no older than nineteen.

"Wait, you said that Kenshin married Kaoru who was the teacher of the sword style that you are teaching, but he already has fighting skills, so he can't have learnt that style before meeting her."

"No he had a different school taught to him, and I will say nothing of it." After that Kenjo remained quiet and sipped his tea, Kagome realised that she hadn't touched hers and reached for it and took a sip herself.

"Do you like it?" He asked once she had finished.

"Yes it is very good, thank you." She said with a smile before taking another sip. They both stayed silent again as they finished their tea. Kenjo was putting the cups on a tray while Kagome was just watching him.

"You look exactly like him" She said suddenly and Kenjo looked up in surprise.

"I do?" He asked and Kagome noticed that he looked genuinely happy at the news and wanted to hear more. She nodded and continued.

"Yeah, Same hair, same build, you're eyes are different though, his are a lilac while yours are blue, but it's like looking at an older version of him."

"I had never known what he had looked like." Kenjo said quietly. "Just the recognisable traits passed through history, red hair, crossed shape scar, the defining traits of Batousai, not Kenshin." He was quiet and deep in thought for a moment before Kagome stirred. "Ah, sorry, it is getting late, if you like I can walk you back to your home?"

"Oh no, please don't trouble yourself I'm just around the corner, I will be fine. Thank you for having me here and telling me about Kenshin."

"Anytime."

With that Kagome left and returned to the shrine, her mother greeted her when she arrived.

"Did you have a good talk with Kenjo?" She asked, Kagome nodded enthusiastically and returned to her room when she continued with her studying.

The next day she took her exam and hurried back home, she was eager to return to the past and see how everyone was doing with the newcomer, she was a little worried about Inuyasha but decided not to overthink things.

She was packing her things to go to the past and noticed that she had got presents for everyone as usual but she didn't have anything to give Kenshin.

'_What should I do? I can't give presents to everyone else and not Kenshin, he would feel like he isn't welcome. I suppose I could pack some polish for his sword, but maybe he wouldn't appreciate that because from what Kenjo said he doesn't like killing. Hmm….I could give him food? But what if he doesn't like it? Argh this is so difficult... Wait a second!' _

Kagome went into the kitchen and grabbed some tea and a traditional cup from a cupboard before returning to the bag to pack it.

"Some traditional green tea leaves should do the trick, it was what Kenjo was drinking last night. Can't go wrong with family taste right?" She was saying to herself while she wrapped the cup in some bandages to prevent it from being broken. After she was done she bid a quick farewell to her family before she jumped down the well and returned to the past.

She soon arrived at the village and entered Kaede's hut, there seemed to be an uncomfortable silence that she had walked in on but it was broken when Shippo greeted her.

"You're late!" Inuyasha stated angrily quickly flaring up Kagome's own annoyance.

"I said I would be three days and I was three days! Can't I come back without you getting angry about it?!" They both glared at each other before Shippo decided to break the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"So Kagome, did you bring anything back for us this time?" Kagome snapped her eyes away from Inuyasha and gave a smile to Shippo.

"Of course." She said as she put her bag down to rest. She reached her arm in and fished out a small bag of lollies which she handed to Shippo, she reached in again and got a bag of potato chips. Which she threw at Inuyasha, hoping to hit his head but her aim was off and he caught them with ease. She handed Miroku a small wooden box which he looked at with a puzzled expression, Sango was staring at it confused as well when Kagome handed her some hardening polish for her weapon, Kiara she gave some cat treats and Kaede she gave some hand moisturiser.

"Now I know it's in here somewhere." Everyone was watching as Kagome continued to dig around in her large bag. "Ah found it! Now where is the damn cup! Oh yeah!" She was saying to herself. "Here" She had unwrapped the cup and had found the bag of green tea leaves and presented them to Kenshin who had been silently watching the spectacle. "I brought this for you." She said. "I didn't know what you liked so I just got this. If you don't like it just tell me."

"No I - Thank you that is very kind of you Kagome-Dono." Kenshin said and reached out and received the tea and cup from the strange girl.

"So, did everyone get along while I was away?" In an instant everyone was silent again, Inuyasha's face turned into a scowl, Kenshin's hand gripped tightly on the cup he had received, Shippo gulped and Miroku and Sango inwardly sighed and Kaede decided to leave entirely to inspect the village.

"What happened?"

_**Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I will try to update again soon, and as I promised before I'll make sure something exciting will happen in the next chapter.**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Here's another Chapter, I hope everyone is enjoying it so far**_

**Chapter 4**

…_While Kagome was away…_

"If you don't mind me asking Kenshin, where did you get that scar?" Sango asked innocently but hearing the question Kenshin froze and didn't say anything when Inuyasha decided to speak instead.

"He probably got lazy and let some nobody get a hit on him. Right Kenshin?" Inuyasha looked to the young male then froze himself, his once lilac eyes had returned to their fierce glowing yellow and he was directing his stern gaze at Inuyasha.

"You have no idea how these scars were giving to me, don't you dare make assumptions that are not only false but insulting to me and to those who gave them to me." Kenshin answered in a dark tone that radiated violence and hostility. Inuyasha remained quiet for a long moment and Kenshin eventually side-lined his anger to a point where it wasn't palpable throughout the room. "The first scar was indeed given to me my one who was not as skilled with the sword, but his will to live made him a better opponent and he did reach my face with his sword." He explained while touching on the longer of the scars to indicate which one he was describing. "The second…." His hand had trailed to the other scar but he suddenly fell silent. Sango and Miroku wanted to press but felt that it was a hard tale behind the other, and were going to drop it until he was ready to explain, probably when he had placed a little more trust in them.

"What? Did you do it to yourself or something?" Inuyasha asked in a mocking tone then was instantly silenced when Kenshin had dawn his sword quicker than anyone would see and had it poised on Inuyasha's throat."

"Your rudeness really has no limits does it? Can you not get by each day without insulting everyone you come by? Perhaps I should just spare people the trouble of having to deal with you and kill you now!"

"W-Wait Kenshin, Stop! Sango called and immediately picked up her weapon and tried to get between him and Inuyasha, who now looked genuinely scared of the man in front of him and was slowly reaching for his sword.

"Go on, try and draw your sword. Your head will be flying before it is out of its sheath."

"Kenshin! That is enough! Miroku help me!" Sango called and without thinking pushed Kenshin away when he was then trapped my Miroku.

"Get off me!" Kenshin shouted but Sango, now with a better position stood between him and Inuyasha, who had now got up and hand a hand to his neck, feeling to see if there was any blood.

"Back down Sango, it won't help with you picking a fight with him too. I've made him like this I'll try and snap him out of it." Inuyasha said as he came up next to her his voice still held the tone of annoyance and shook very slightly, Sango didn't know whether that was to do with his sudden near death experience but she didn't comment on it. Instead she nodded and moved away, Miroku however stayed in place to keep the teen under control.

"Damn he's strong" He said more to himself but heard by everyone else but they didn't comment back. "Inuyasha, I'm not going to be able to hold him for much longer."

"Got it" Inuyasha said and ran out of the hut, Kenshin broke free of the monk and gave chase after the half demon. Inuyasha sped towards the large open space near the well before he stopped again. His hand went to his wound as it had once again opened and he watched as Kenshin slowly made his way towards him.

"I don't want to fight you Kenshin" Inuyasha called out but he didn't seem to get a response from the young male. Kenshin stopped around ten metres in front of him and locked his fierce yellow eyes with Inuyasha's. "Kenshin listen. I'm sorry for what I said. We shouldn't be doing this! Kagome will be upset when she gets back, she'll probably cry too. I really didn't mean to upset you, I understand now that there are things I shouldn't make fun of. Can we stop this fight?"

Kenshin started at him long and hard for a moment, his eyes slowly returning back to a light purple but they stayed narrowed as he considered Inuyasha's words. Eventually he turned his back on the half demon before walking back towards the village and back to Kaede's hut. When he entered on his own Miroku and Sango were immediately suspicious.

"Do not worry, I did not harm Inuyasha" he said before he moved to his usual corner, he had his sword in hand propped up against the wall and he lowered his head and appeared to be sleeping. Inuyasha soon came in after much to Sango and Miroku's relief, he cast a stern glance to Kenshin's sleeping form then took his own seat back where he was before, Sango and Miroku were looking at him expectantly.

"Well, we have made peace for now. At least I think we have, he didn't say anything to me, just walked off. I suppose that what I said got through to him though, otherwise I think we would still be having it out now."

"You have to be careful Inuyasha." Came Kaede's gentle old tone, but hushed as if not to disturb the sleeping warrior, or to try and prevent him from hearing. "Those who are born to war, or have been subject to it are very different to others. And because of his young age he has seen many horrors that can affect the mind in ways you could never know."

"What are you getting at old woman?" Inuyasha asked with a snarl.

"I'm just saying." She continued just as quietly "Be mindful of what you say around the boy, or to him of course." Inuyasha just glared at the old woman in response while Sango looked towards the sleeping form of Kenshin, trying to think of what horrors a young boy would have been made subject to.

"Of course I'll be careful! Inuyasha said. "But he shouldn't be so quick to get angry!" he shouted, stirring Kenshin from his sleep, but he kept his eyes closed.

"Like you can say anything, Inuyasha" Shippo said mockingly.

"What?!"

Mealtime came around and Kenshin was staring at the pot intently while he watched Sango attempt to make something.

"Do you mind if I help?" Sango jumped when suddenly Kenshin was behind her.

"Not at all, I'm not very good at this." She admitted, embarrassed. "Usually Kagome does the cooking, she brings all these strange foods back from her own time that I'm not sure what to do with them." She said while picking up some strange food substance. Kenshin examined it closely before he smiled slightly.

"These are just Soba noodles, I know how to cook them, pass them over." He said and reached out a hand, Sango tentatively placed the noodles into his hand, being careful not to touch him. "Don't worry, I don't have any kind of disease, I wasn't going to hurt you." He said but didn't sound angry, instead he sounded amused.

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that." She said quietly.

"It's fine, usually Hitokiri's like me are avoided as such, the only reason why that I can think of is the aura, it must radiate violence. As such, people can usually sense that aura whether they know what it is or not and stay away from it out of preservation."

"I had no idea." Sango said, genuinely curious. "I'm not very good with auras, the only ones I'm able to really sense have been demons, and that's because they are so strong. I've never been able to sense a normal humans."

"And you probably wouldn't unless it was humans you were fighting each day. But tell me more about these demons, I've never witnessed them before, and I have a feeling that I will be running into others while I am with you." Sango smiled slightly when she realised that Kenshin was planning on staying with them and reasoned it to Kagome saying she would help him.

"Well there are many different types of demons, so many that not even I know about every single one. Many are found to be weak and easily dispatched, while others are stronger, and can take on the forms of humans. I don't know that many like that though. Apart from maybe Sesshoumaru and Koga, of course there have been others, but not as strong as them."

"This Koga and Sesshoumaru, it sounds as if you know them personally."

"Sesshoumaru is my brother, I'm pretty sure Kagome already told you that." Inuyasha interjected.

"Of course, I do remember but I was not aware that Sango-Dono also knew him." Kenshin said politely, a hint of annoyance in his voice. Sango however blushed slightly at the formality but soon thought better of it.

"Yeah, we've met him a couple of times, and Koga is a wolf demon who loves Kagome."

"Loves her?"

"That's right, it's very sweet to see, until Inuyasha comes in and picks a fight out of jealousy." Sango said in a mocking tone.

"So you are also in love with Kagome-Dono?" Kenshin asked innocently. With the question Inuyasha was stunned.

"Well I- No I – What kind of question is that?! Aren't you being a bit to nosy? What about you? You must have someone you like!" Inuyasha said in haste, trying to draw the attention away from him. But Kenshin had once again froze and was looking down sorrowfully but Inuyasha ploughed on ahead ignoring the warning signs from the others, not realising the swordsman had fallen still. "Then again I bet no one would ever like you back with your personality" Inuyasha suddenly fell backwards as something went flying towards his head and knocked it back, he picked it off his face and realised it was the noodles that had just been held by Kenshin. Not the best of things to throw but as he looked at Kenshin he realised he had stepped on a huge landmine.

"You must have a death wish you mongrel!" Kenshin screamed and for the first time using an insult specific to Inuyasha who immediately flared up. Miroku and Sango sighed before they attempted to restrain Kenshin, who was far harder to control this time. "Don't you have any respect?!"

"Kenshin please calm down, he is always like this, if you keep flying off at every comment like this it will make it harder for everyone!" Miroku said hoping that he would get through to the young swordsman. While Sango tried desperately to step in front of him and Inuyasha once again but Kenshin was already reaching for his sword. Sango looked to Miroku panicked and he responded by locking his arms in place with his staff, Sango took the opportunity to take his sword away and kept it out of reach, but instead Kenshin tried to reach for his Wakizashi while Miroku still struggled to keep him restrained.

"Please Kenshin!" Sango called, "You will gain nothing from this, only more trouble and none of us will help you get back to Kyoto!" Once he heard Kyoto he stopped and let his arms fall limp but continued to glare at Inuyasha, who just looked away, not able to keep up with his stare for long due to the intense killing intent. Without another word Kenshin reached his hand out towards Sango for his sword who tentatively returned it, wondering if he was going to use it, but instead he turned and moved back to his usual corner and back into the position he was in before, but instead of sleeping he kept an intense stare directed at Inuyasha.

…_After Kagome got back…_

"I want to apologise for Inuyasha."

Kagome had wandered outside after hearing what had happened from everyone else and had found Kenshin looking out towards the village while leaning against a wooden fence, she had walked up next to him and they remained in silence for a moment before she had apologised. Kenshin just carried on staring ahead, his eyes narrowing slightly at the name of the half demon.

"He doesn't think and just states his mind, it has gotten him into a lot of trouble before. But I know for a fact that he was touching on things that he never should have and I am sorry for it."

"Apologies mean nothing if they are not from the person directly. I appreciate your kindness but that will not eliminate my hate for what he has said to me. Unless he comes to terms with what he has done wrong and apologises himself the hostility will more than likely continue. But I will try not to make it too uncomfortable by being open about it and I will avoid conversing with him unless absolutely necessary." Kenshin said, his tone wasn't annoyed or angry but off, where Kagome couldn't tell what he was putting into his voice, she thought it might have just been malice but she couldn't be certain.

They both remained silent again before Kenshin broke the silence himself.

"I'm sorry, I did not intend for you to feel uncomfortable." He said and turned to her, he had a smile on his face but Kagome could tell that it was forced.

"It wasn't long ago was it?" Kagome blurted out suddenly, not thinking and cursing herself inside. Kenshin didn't look angry this time, just confused and kept staring at her, waiting for an answer.

"I won't get angry." He simply stated, his face expressionless as if knowing what Kagome was thinking.

"Who was it that you lost?"

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'm not sure if I'll be able to update tomorrow, I'll try to but it might be Monday or Tuesday at the latest that I'll have another up**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's another chapter, only a day later so I'm happy with myself, I want to thank Inu Battousai for the comments and I promise there will be Demon Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru :D (But not in this chapter)**_

**Chapter 5**

"Who was it that you lost?"

There was a deathly silence that settled between them in which Kagome saw multiple emotions flicker in Kenshins' eyes and on his face, starting with surprise, quickly changing to anger then passing to sadness and longing before settling to self-loathing and Kagome knew instantly that she had asked the very question he was going to keep quiet about for the rest of his life unless absolutely necessary.

"I'm sorry, this was wrong of me to ask." Kagome said scared before she turned to leave.

"Wait." His voice was so quiet and broken that Kagome had almost missed it, she turned to face him but he was looking down, shakes reverberating through his body. She watched him until his shakes started to subside before she walked back towards him, not saying a word she looked at him. Waiting.

"She was my wife. Tomoe, she – I –I" He tried to speak but was stopped when his voice broke once more. Kagome stared at him, not knowing what to do but he regained composure before speaking again. "She died, a year ago." He said sadly, not looking at Kagome and keeping his gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry Kenshin, I shouldn't have asked knowing it would be hard for you."

"It is fine, it helps me face what happened." He said before he walked away and back into the hut. Kagome watched him again before she followed after him. When she entered everyone was getting their things together. Sango and Miroku noticed the solemn mood that Kenshin was in and decided to try and keep Inuyasha distracted.

"So we are headed to Kyoto then." Kagome stated, trying to lighten the atmosphere, Kenshin looked up at her, a deep sadness in his eyes but a slight hope and determination flickered into them for a moment. Sango and Miroku nodded while Inuyasha just grunted.

"This better not be a wasted journey, if we don't come across Naraku or any of his incarnations on our way I won't be happy." He said before he stormed off out of the hut while everyone else quickly followed behind apart from Kenshin who remained stood in place not sure whether he should follow before Kagome looked back as she got to the doorway.

"You're not going to get to Kyoto by standing there now are you? Come on." She said and walked out, swiftly followed by the young swordsman. "If you don't mind me asking." Kagome started as they got outside and started walking with the others. "You look very young now, are you really of age to have been married?" Kenshin laughed slightly before looking ahead to the others in front of them.

"I'm seventeen Kagome-Dono, I was of age to be married two years ago."

"At fifteen? That's rather young."

"It seems that times have changed considerably for you, it is quite the norm for Samurai's to be regarded as adults at the age of 15, of course if they completed Genpuku. I suppose other methods or ceremonies were used if you were not Samurai."

"What is Genpuku?" Kagome asked, ignoring the occasional glances that Inuyasha cast in their direction.

"It is a one hit fight between two swordsmen. One of course is an adult and the other would be the newly turned fifteen year old. If the younger wins then he is treated as an adult from then on."

"So did you go through this Genpuku?"

"Yes, in a way I did it twice. The first was when I left my master, the second was when I turned fifteen and Katsura-San took it upon himself to be my opponent. Obviously I couldn't refuse and from that moment on I was treated as an adult."

"I see, it sounds rather different back in your time."

"It's not strange though, Kagome." Kenshin and Kagome looked to their left and noticed that Miroku had joined them.

"In the times here that ceremony is practiced now." He stated.

"That is good to hear." Kenshin said smiling slightly. Kagome looked to Kenshin again wondering if he would ask about the future but he wasn't looking at her. Miroku feeling that the conversation had suddenly ended walked back over to Sango.

"Inuyasha will apologise." Kagome said. "But it would probably be in his own way. You rarely ever hear him say sorry. He's too proud for that." She bit off with the last comment before smiling at Kenshin. "He has more simple ways of doing things." She said with a slight laugh which earned her a heartfelt smile from the young Samurai, then they both looked surprised when they heard a loud slap in front of them, they both turned and saw that Miroku now had a large read handprint and Sango walked briskly ahead leaving the priest rubbing his sore face.

"Oro?" Came the confused sound from Kenshin, to which Kagome laughed and explained Miroku's lecherous habits and how most of them were directed at Sango. To which they both laughed catching the attention of everyone else. All surprised to hear the laughter come from the normally brooding Kenshin and stared at him for a moment before they carried on walking, smiling. Apart from Inuyasha who grew more annoyed hearing the two of them enjoying themselves.

"You sure are an unusual group Kagome-Dono, I suppose in a way I am glad to have met you all." Kagome's eyes lit up for a moment before his look suddenly turned hard and he stopped. He wasn't the only one, Inuyasha had also sensed something and his head was flicking left to right, Sango and Miroku noticed something was wrong and readied their weapons, Kagome swiftly following suit with her bow and arrows, Kenshin's hand hovered above the hilt of his sword while Kilala enlarged her form, eyes also flicking from left to right.

Suddenly Kagome was grabbed by a large tentacle and dragged away from the group, Kenshin and Inuyasha responded quickly, soon followed by Sango, Miroku and Kilala. Kenshin, who had been closer reached Kagome first and drew his sword with lightning speed slicing through the tentacle with ease, he then caught Kagome as she fell but he was not looking at her, instead staring to where the owner of the large tentacle was starting to appear.

"Move out of the way Kagome, stay with Shippo." Inuyasha said, without another word she nodded and ran off towards where Shippo was hiding.

Kenshin was glaring fiercely at the newly appeared demon while Inuyasha drew his Tetsusaiga. The demon itself was large and had uncovered more tentacles centred around a glistening red eye, the tentacles darted out rapidly and tried to ensnare both Inuyasha and Kenshin. Kenshin sliced through them with ease, Inuyasha managed to evade them but they had come back around and trapped him from the back. He struggled to get out but couldn't move, Kenshin seeing the half demon struggle ran over and sliced through the tentacles which had him covered, without waiting for any kind of response he sped off towards where the demon eye was waiting, it tried to stop him by producing more tentacles but they too were also sliced away but they kept coming making it impossible for Kenshin to get close to the centre.

"Kenshin! Out of the way" Inuyasha shouted raising his sword, Kenshin sensed that something was about to about to happen and sped out of the way, cutting down any tentacles that followed him. Once he was well out of the way Inuyasha prepared his attack.

"Wind Scar!" He shouted and swung Tetsusaiga down, releasing bright yellow glowing lights through the ground which travelled to the demon and tore it to pieces in an instant. Inuyasha smirked as the demon disintegrated and returned his sword to his sheath.

"That wasn't bad Kenshin." Inuyasha said when Kenshin returned. "You're pretty quick for a human, maybe even on the same speed as me." Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo had joined them at this point. Kagome smiled brightly as she knew the real meaning of what Inuyasha had said while Sango and Miroku looked surprised at the compliment. Kenshin noticed Kagome's smile and laughed to himself before looking at the waiting Inuyasha.

"Not bad yourself, Inuyasha." He said Inuyasha nodded before he started to walk off again.

"Come on." He called back to the others "Where not getting any closer to Kyoto by standing around here!" Everyone then followed quickly behind and they continued walking.

"Does that happen often?" Kenshin asked towards the group, he was walking a little further in front this time on his own but still behind Inuyasha.

"Yes, we encounter demons pretty much every day. It's become the norm for us now. ." Sango explained.

"It's because Kagome has the jewel shards with her." Miroku stated and Inuyasha cast him a warning look but had been too late.

"Jewel Shards? Like a precious stone or something?" Kenshin asked curiously.

"You don't know what it is?" Kagome asked baffled.

"No."

"Well the proper name is the Sacred Shikon Jewel, have you heard that name?" Kenshin looked in thought for a moment before he eventually nodded.

"Only in old tales, I never had thought it to be real. But you said shards?"

"That's because Kagome decided to break it into pieces." Inuyasha called from ahead of the group.

"It wasn't on purpose!" She called back angrily. "And if I hadn't that stupid demon would have escaped with it!"

"I could have easily caught up with that bird!" Inuyasha shouted and had stopped to face Kagome.

"Then why didn't you?!"

"Because I thought I would be nice and give you a chance to redeem yourself with your shoddy bow skills!"

Sango and Miroku sighed as they watched the exchange continue, Kagome and Inuyasha getting angrier at each other with each comment.

"I suppose this is another common occurrence." Kenshin asked.

"You haven't seen the half of if." Shippo explained.

"But they are in love with each other aren't they? Isn't it unusual for them to be fighting in such a way all the time?"

"How could you tell?" Sango asked surprised having to speak a little louder to be heard over the arguing.

"Is it not obvious?" Kenshin asked, surprised himself.

"Well it's a little more complicated, there is a lot going on with Inuyasha's side of things."

"I see." Kenshin said, not wanting to pry further, they continued to watch the exchange in silence Kenshin soon bored and waiting for them to finish soon.

"SIT!" Came the suddenly louder voice of Kagome and Kenshin's eyes widened in shock when he watched Inuyasha's face hit the ground. Not waiting for him to get up Kagome walked off, soon followed by Miroku and Sango happy that the argument was final over while Kenshin stayed and watched Inuyasha pull himself up from the ground now covered in mud which he quickly wiped down.

"That was amazing" Kenshin stated wide eyes. "Does that work for anybody or can only Kagome-Dono do that?" He asked hopeful.

"It's only Kagome, and I wish she would stop with it. Damn these beads!" He said before trying to remove them and failing.

"Inuyasha! Hurry up!" Kagome called, without another word he quickly hurried back to the front of the group and carried on walking ahead, Kenshin following and soon caught up with the others. Continuing to Kyoto.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I might be a little slower in updating depending on Uni and assignments but I'll still try to update when I can.**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**Another chapter up! I can't remember if I updated yesterday or not :/ my memory contains nothing during the week XD Anyway hope you enjoy it ;)**_

**Chapter 6**

"So how long do you think it will take us to get to Kyoto?" Kagome asked curiously, her response was silence, she looked to Kenshin who was just as confused as she was until she realised why they hadn't responded.

"Does anyone know how to get to Kyoto?" Further silence followed by looks of guilt. "Are we at least going in the right direction?" She asked and in response Inuyasha finally turned around to face her, ignoring the look of despair that was now on Kenshin's face knowing that he was travelling with people that had no idea where they were going.

"Of course we are going the right way! How hard can it be to find a big city?"

"Kyoto is west from Edo" Kenshin stated, Inuyasha froze before continuing in the opposite direction they had come from, with a sigh everyone else followed.

"So we went the wrong way, anyone could do that! It's not like anyone else knew which way it was either!"

"That was a full day wasted travelling in the opposite direction, if you didn't know which way to go you should have said beforehand." Kenshin said in an annoyed tone which Inuyasha picked up on.

"It's just a day, we won't be that far from Kyoto just have a little patience!"

"Says you" Kagome said, hoping to take Inuyasha's attention away from Kenshin who was growing angrier with the half demons' comments.

"Yeah says me! I don't lose my patience that quickly!"

"You don't have a war you are fighting you stupid idiot!" Kenshin suddenly exploded earning another sigh from everyone apart from Inuyasha who was just staring at him.

Kagome was waiting for the half demon to make a comeback but was surprised when he didn't say anything, as if he was just waiting. Eventually Kenshin calmed down and remained silent.

"I apologise" He said after a minute had past. It is just so important that I get back." He said and walked past Inuyasha and ahead of the group in silence.

"Hey, Kagome."

"What is it Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha had trailed back to walk alongside Kagome, keeping a watch on Kenshin who was still walking silently in front.

"You know about him don't you?" Kagome cast a quick look to see if Kenshin could hear but he was too far in front and Inuyasha had spoken quietly, in response she nodded.

"Yes, you've already heard he name he was famed for, 'Hitokiri Battosai' I'm sure you know what that means?"

"It's not a name I've heard before, so not really." Inuyasha said confused.

"Well 'Hitokiri' basically means 'Manslayer' whereas Battosai is a bit different, it's not a single word description, but it is formed of a technique that he used with sword fighting, something to do with drawing the sword extremely quickly. As in too quick for anyone to see. So with having skills like that of course he had a major role in the war, which is probably why he wants to get back so quickly.

"So there are different sword techniques?" Inuyasha asked and Kagome just looked at him with despair. "What?!"

"You didn't know that there were different sword techniques?"

"Shut up!" Inuyasha said before he went silent, after a while he spoke again. "So what sword technique does Kenshin use?"

"Why? It's not like you know what it does even if I told you."

"I'm just curious alright."

"Well I can't tell you. I don't know."

"What?!"

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu" Came Kenshin's voice, during their mini argument they had gained his attention and he had overheard their conversation and decided to interject. He still seemed annoyed but not as much as earlier which was a bit of a relief to Kagome but she knew that Inuyasha had a habit of rekindling his anger. She cast a nervous glance towards Inuyasha but soon flicked them back to Kenshin when he carried on talking. "It relies on speed and technique to fell many foes at once, which is why I'm an asset in the war."

"I see." Inuyasha said, strangely calm with an interested tone in his voice. "Do you think this same technique could be used on demons?"

"Of course, there would be some alterations needed because you would be cutting into something different of course but it would be affective against them….why?" Kenshin asked after realising that Inuyasha may not have been asking purely out of curiosity.

"Do you think you could teach me?"

"No." Kenshin's answer was immediate and Inuyasha scowled in response.

"Why?" He said, almost in a sulking tone which Kagome had to resist the urge to laugh at.

"It is not mine to teach, nor would I know how. Besides you are strong enough with the techniques you have now against demons, the way you would learn the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu would make you affective against humans." Kenshin said and Inuyasha remained silent for a change, understanding that what Kenshin said was right.

"What about teaching me the basics, of just normal sword fighting." Inuyasha said, Kenshin looked at him for a long moment before he sighed.

"Very well, but the basics only."

"Great! Let's get started!" Inuyasha said excitedly and hurried off out of the way of everyone else, waiting for Kenshin to follow. Sighing again Kenshin followed him silently while everyone else took the opportunity to take a break and had something to eat.

"You're holding it wrong." Kenshin stated as soon as Inuyasha had drawn his Tetsusaiga. "I understand that with such a large sword shaped like this it would probably have some more weight to it than a normal Katana but still the way it should be held is the same otherwise your swings will be inaccurate and useless. Here hold it like this." Kenshin took out his own sword and showed Inuyasha the way he held it, the half demon stared at it intently before he adjusted his own hands and looked at Kenshin expectantly. "That's it, now show me a vertical strike."

The lesson continued until it turned to evening and they walked back over to the others and had something to eat.

"So how did the teaching go?" Kagome asked once the meal had finished.

"It went very well, there are a few habits that he's picked up which he probably won't be able to break but he's much improved than before. He might even provide a challenge for me the next time we duel." Kenshin said with a sly grin.

"Oh yeah? Are you wanting a fight?" Inuyasha said enthusiastically reaching for his sword beside him.

"Not now of course, without meaning to sound selfish but I'd like to keep my agility and skills up to scratch, as much as I appreciate a break from the war like this I don't want to be dull when I get back. If you don't mind I would like to train once a day if that is okay with you?" Kenshin asked to Inuyasha.

"Sounds good to me."

The next day Kenshin and Inuyasha had risen early and returned back to the open area they had been training in the night before, Kenshin had also requested that Kilala join them.

"Why did you want Kilala to come as well Kenshin?" Inuyasha asked while Kenshin examined how Inuyasha was holding Testusaiga.

"I feel that while on this journey I will be facing more demons like the one from before, Kilala being a demon herself would be able to help me predict their movement so that I can be more affective in future battles. But don't worry I will be flipping my sword over so that I will not cause serious harm." Kenshin was explaining while he adjusted Inuyasha's fingers on his sword so that they were positioned correctly. "There, now shall we start?" He asked and walked ten paces before he drew his sword and flipped it so that the blunt side was directed at Inuyasha and Kilala and the sharpened side towards himself.

Inuyasha started with a leap using the momentum to swing his blade downwards but Kenshin dodged to the side, as Inuyasha landed Kenshin swung his own blade and struck Inuyasha in the back knocking him away but was soon fending of Kilala who circled him before closing in, paws out as if she was going to attack with her claws but she had them put away. Kenshin seeing the attack leapt high and strung with his sword as he fell then followed with an upward swing once he had landed, being careful to not put his full force into each attack so as to not harm Kilala.

The fight continued for an hour before the others had risen and watched them. Kenshin had dodged nearly every blow that had been attempted on him, Kilala had shrunk back to her smaller size and had decided to sit on Kenshin's shoulder when they returned, the small feline having a smug look.

"Well Kilala is a better fighter than Inuyasha." Kenshin stated once he had returned to them, a smile on his face. "I held back so she is not hurt." He said when he returned her to Sango who looked at her proudly.

"So she managed to get you then?" Kagome asked.

"Haha, yes she indeed took me by surprise, a couple of times I might add. Of course Inuyasha was as easy to read as a book." Kenshin added mockingly while Inuyasha returned, covered in dirt and bruises.

"You're too quick." Inuyasha stated annoyed.

"Says the half demon." Kenshin stated back with a mocking grin. "Anyway, we should continue." Kenshin said and everyone retrieved their things and they carried on with their journey.

"It had reached midday and they had stopped once again to have a meal when Kagome spoke up.

"Hey guys, isn't that Rin?" Everyone turned and looked to see where Kagome was pointing, nearby they saw the young girl leading the demon Ah-Un. "Rin!" Kagome shouted and waved her hand in greeting, the young girl turned when she heard her name and started to walk to towards them.

"Hello Kagome, how are you?" She asked politely once she reached them.

"I'm okay thank you. What are you doing?"

"Lord Sesshoumaru told me that I have to find my own food because he doesn't eat."

"I see. Would you like to eat with us?" Kagome asked ignoring Inuyasha's glares.

"I would! Thank you."

Rin joined them after setting Ah-Un to one side, at first looking confused at the strange food but still enjoying it once she tried it, they stayed like that for a while when they all sensed a sudden shift in the wind and looked up to find a demon in human form. The same silver hair as Inuyasha's only longer, yellow narrow eyes and pale face adorned with purple stripes, he was tall and clad all in white with red decorations on his kimono sleeves, two swords resting on his left hip and large billowing fur crossing his right shoulder.

"Rin, what are you doing with these people?" He asked, his voice had no expression to it apart from a very small hint of annoyance. Hearing the demon Rin smiled.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" She exclaimed happily. "Kagome was kind enough to give me some food." Rin explained but Sesshoumaru was looking instead at the group and his eyes found Kenshin's and they stared at each other for a long moment before Sesshoumaru eventually spoke again.

"It seems, Inuyasha that you have found yet another incompetent to follow you." Everyone stared at Sesshoumaru wide eyed at his sudden comment before flicking to Kenshin who was now glaring at the demon with matching fierce yellow eyes.

"What did you say?" Kenshin would have growled if he was a demon himself. Sesshoumaru unfazed carried on staring at the young swordsman.

"That you are incompetent, any mortal is."

"You would say that even with having Rin with you?" Kagome interjected, hoping to diffuse the sudden hostility coming from Kenshin.

"Rin knows her place, do not compare her to fools like you. If the mortal is of use, let him prove it." Sesshoumaru said before drawing Tokijin and pointing it towards Kenshin.

"Come."

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I know I made Sesshoumaru a little bit out of character but a fight needs to happen with him and Kenshin and this is how I'm starting it….yeah…. anyway, I'll try to have another one up either tomorrow or the day after. **____** And thank you again for the comments Inu Battousai! They really mean a lot to me! I hope you continue to read and enjoy my Fanfic :D**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Here's another chapter I hope that everyone enjoys it :D I can't think of anything else to say now so yeah… Read on! :D**_

**Chapter 7**

"Come" Sesshoumaru said while pointing his Tokijin at the young swordsman, Kenshin didn't hesitate and got up, walking over towards the waiting dog demon, sensing a fight being imminent everyone else moved to another side so as to avoid getting caught in any kind of crossfire.

Kenshin stood at his usual ten paces away from Sesshoumaru but had not yet drawn his sword, Kagome was confused at first but then remembered his 'Battosai' nickname and knew why. Sesshoumaru looked impassive as usual but seemed to be waiting for the red haired male to draw his blade.

"Will you not draw?" He asked, he had lowered his sword at this point.

"I will" Came Kenshin's reply and he changed his position, knees bent low, he removed his Katana from his side and held it in his left hand his right hovering over the hilt and his fierce yellow eyes watching Sesshoumaru intently.

Seeing that he was ready to attack Sesshoumaru lowered himself slightly and ran towards Kenshin, moving almost instantly that Kagome didn't know what occurred after.

Kenshin had seen him coming and when the demon was within range Kenshin drew his sword in a speed quicker than Sesshoumaru had ran. The demon relying more on instinct than being able to see the attack brought his sword up and blocked the blade but had to leap out of the way when Kenshin brought his now empty sheath around which was aimed for his arm.

Sesshoumaru backed away to prepare for another attack but Kenshin was already on the offensive, running towards him, his sheath now back to his side and his katana wielded with both hands, once he caught up with the demon has slashed to his side with was blocked once again but he span and finished behind Sesshoumaru and swung his katana again to slash at his back but Sesshoumaru leapt up out of the way and in a flash brought his sword down, Kenshin reacted quickly and brought his sword up to block it, Sesshoumaru seemingly suspended in the air had more strength behind his blow but Kenshin still held him back.

They remained like that for a while before Kenshin took his left hand off the sword, drew his Wakizashi and stabbed it into Sesshoumaru's arm who immediately growled in pain and leapt back away from Kenshin, dropping his sword in the process and examined his wound, it was deep and he watched as Kenshin cleaned his Wakizashi before returning it to its sheath.

"You'll pay for that, human" Sesshoumaru growled his eyes turning a deep glowing red, instead of picking up his sword as Kenshin expected Sesshoumaru arranged his hand and fingers so they looked like a point and whipped his arm in the direction of Kenshin.

Kenshin watched as a strange green glow was travelling rapidly towards him, he barely had a second to dodge when another whip of green was heading in his direction which just caught him on his leg.

"Argh." Kenshin looked at where the whip had just made contact, his hakama had been instantly torn and there was a large gash on his leg which was already bleeding. Enraged at the injury he dodged another whip and went sprinting towards the demon, sword ready. With nothing to block the attack Sesshoumaru jumped out of the way and mistakenly landed behind Kenshin who once again swung his sword behind him to land a hit on Sesshoumaru's back, realising his error Sesshoumaru managed to evade the attack by a hairs breadth immediately picking up his discarded sword to block another attack, Kenshin then leapt into the air himself, wincing in pain as he did because of his leg but still continued with the blow and bought his sword down, but instead of a swing like Sesshoumaru had been expecting Kenshin stabbed instead and his sword sunk into his left shoulder.

Sesshoumaru howled in pain and flung Kenshin off him, his eyes still an enraged red, he pointed Tokijin towards him and shot out a blue glow. Kenshin tried to block but the force was too strong and he was knocked back to the ground, while downed Sesshoumaru flashed towards him and raised his sword to cut into Kenshin, in the last second Kenshin rolled out of the way and dashed back keeping a distance between them.

They had once again returned to the places they had started and Kenshin once again sheathed his katana and lowered himself once more.

"This is going to be it." Kagome said quietly, Inuyasha and everyone else looked at her confused. "Whoever succeeds with this next blow will be the winner" Everyone just remained silent and in thought before turning back towards the battle.

Kenshin was in his Batoujutsu stance once again and Sesshoumaru seemed to have calmed himself enough so that his eyes were no longer a glowing red. Then he once again advanced on Kenshin, knowing this time what to expect, he got within range and instead of getting ready to block he swung his sword down as Kenshin released his katana, but caught Sesshoumaru off guard when he swung it over him, then Sesshoumaru was too slow to react to the sheath that made contact with his arm instantly shattering the bones in his elbow, he once again dropped the sword in pain and stepped back from Kenshin who re-sheathed his Katana and placed it back on his hip.

Everyone was stunned at the outcome to see Sesshoumaru defeated by Kenshin and was also surprised that Kenshin hadn't delivered the finishing blow

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" Sesshoumaru asked, his voice was no longer void of any expression but sounded forced through the pain and anger.

"Because I am not in the war right now and there is no reason for me to kill you. Besides you are Inuyasha's brother, and even if you don't like that I won't kill a friend's brother. Annoying as both of them might be." Kenshin said before walking away, Sesshoumaru watched him leave for a moment before he gingerly picked up his sword with his broken arm and returned it to his side.

"This will be continued." Sesshoumaru stated before he returned to Rin and they both slowly walked off.

Everyone watched them as they left before they looked to Kenshin.

"We should take a look at that leg, he uses poison so it might be spreading." Kagome said worriedly, Kenshin didn't say a word and just sat, allowing the young girl to examine him. "Yeah that's definitely poison, here I have some medicine that you can take which will get rid of it, then we'll need to bandage up the cut itself." Kenshin just nodded silently, his eyes were still a glowing yellow as the adrenaline from the fight was still in his system.

"You were amazing there." Sango stated and Kagome had Kenshin drink the medicine, he had pulled a face at the taste then looked at Sango as she spoke.

"I agree, only Inuyasha has really been able to take on Sesshoumaru, he of course was the one that removed his left arm." Still not speaking Kenshin looked towards Inuyasha in surprise who just gave a smug grin.

"Are you okay Kenshin?" Kagome asked as she finished with bandaging his leg. "You haven't spoken a word." She added and in response Kenshin just smiled and nodded before his fell backwards.

"Kenshin!" Everyone shouted, Kagome got to his side and smiled slightly.

"He's fine, he's just asleep, that fight must have taken everything he had, and even carrying on while poisoned it's no wonder he's so tired."

Not being able to move him they just waited in the same place for him to wake up.

"Why do you think Sesshoumaru started a fight like that? Normally it's you he picks a fight with." Kagome asked to Inuyasha who was eating the potato chips that had been given to him by Kagome back at the hut. In response he just shrugged his shoulders.

"Perhaps he knew he'd get more of a challenge by fighting Kenshin." Miroku said in a mocking tone, with that Inuyasha swallowed hard.

"Hey!" The half demon responded and glowered at the monk.

"It's still strange though." Sango interjected having given some thought to Kagome's words.

"Yeah, he's never picked a fight with any of us. What do you think Inuyasha?" Shippo asked.

"I don't know alright? Maybe he did sense that the guy has some strength to him. Who even cares?" Inuyasha fumed ending the conversation.

"So how do we get to Kyoto from here?" Shippo asked after a minute of silence had passed, making the silence uncomfortable. "No one has a clue do they?" Shippo finished when everyone had looked elsewhere. "What are you going to do when Kenshin finds out we are lost?"

"Don't you think you are asking too many questions?" Inuyasha snapped, silencing Shippo who walked away on his own and sat by the sleeping Kenshin who the group had propped up to a nearby tree and left his sword to his side.

"Inuyasha is so mean." Shippo said as if expecting the sleeping Kenshin to response, seeing no reaction to his words Shippo sighed before looking back towards the others.

"That wasn't very fair Inuyasha, he was making good points, and just because you didn't know didn't mean that you had to treat him like that." Kagome said with a frown, scolding the half demon.

"Kagome's right, we do need to think about a way for us to get to Kyoto, it's not a short journey and getting lost will make it a longer one, and more uncomfortable with Kenshin getting impatient." Sango said and Miroku and Kagome nodded in agreement.

"I think for the time being we should look for a nearby town or village and then get directions, that way we should be able to follow roads." Kagome said.

"That sounds like a good idea." Miroku agreed, a sudden twinkle in his eye after hearing the word Village and Town, knowing that there may be women there. Sango noticed the reaction and scowled at him but he didn't notice.

"I think we should tell Kenshin though, he would get suspicious if we just went to a village and asked directions. Or annoyed." Kagome continued, distracting Sango, they nodded in agreement once more then all cast a glance towards Kenshin, still accompanied by the small fox demon. "Obviously when he wakes up." Kagome added.

"Agreed" Everyone replied in unison.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I tried to keep the fighting styles as close to the characters as possible, Kenshin's was easiest to follow because I know more, and Sesshoumaru I was just going off how I see him fight in the Anime. I hope you liked it, there will probably another fight between the two (Have to let Sesshie heal first though and Kenshin) But I hope to have another chapter up soon :D **_

_**~Killing Relaity**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Here's another Chapter, I'm sorry I didn't update yesterday I didn't have time to finish it, :/ but it's finished now and finally up, I hope you enjoy it :D**_

**Chapter 8**

"It looks as though he's not going to be waking up until tomorrow." Kagome said as she stared at the still sleeping Kenshin, Shippo had soon got bored of him being non talkative and had returned to the group when it was time to eat. "Do you think we should wake him up so that he can eat something?"

In response to the question everyone looked over to him nervously.

"I'm not waking him." Everyone once again said in unison

"Argh, fine I'll go." Kagome said with a sigh and walked briskly over to where Kenshin was sleeping, she soon slowed as she got closer and then was taking very slow steps before she was next to him, trying to ignore the intense stares coming from the rest of the group. Without knowing a gentler way of waking him she slowly rested a hand on his shoulder, which flew back immediately when he instantly grabbed his sword, unsheathed it and had the blade to Kagome's neck.

"Kagome!" Came the call of everyone else, but she wasn't paying attention. Instead she was staring straight into the glowing yellow eyes in front of her, her own eyes of terror reflected back at her though them. Kenshin snapped back to reality and quickly moved his sword away turning his gaze away from the now terrified Kagome.

"I'm sorry – I –I didn't mean for that to happen, I just. Please, just never try to wake me again." Kenshin said, trying to slow his breathing and calming down the adrenaline once again rushing though his body. Kagome just nodded before returning to the others, trying not to sprint away from him.

"Are you alright Kagome?" Sango asked once she returned, Kagome just remained quiet and nodded before returning to her food that she had left. Everyone was in an uncomfortable silence once more, each casting a glance over to Kenshin but he wasn't looking at them, instead he was staring out into the distance. They soon finished eating but realised that there was still a portion left that they had made for Kenshin, they all looked at each other not knowing what they should do with it. Kagome then sucked in a loud breath and picked up the bowl, then stood and walked back over to Kenshin. Everyone watched in suspense to see what would happen.

"I brought this for you." Kagome said as she got up to Kenshin, but was not beside him, instead she kept more of a distance away from him, which he noticed but didn't comment on it.

"Thank you." He said and Kagome took a few steps closer and set the bowl down next to him. "I really am, truly sorry for earlier. It has always been in my instincts." He said before Kagome could walk away again. Instead of leaving she sat down.

"It's alright, I wasn't hurt, just more surprised than anything."

"But it was still a frightening experience."

"Hey, don't worry about it that much, it was a frightening experience seeing you defeat an almost undefeatable Sesshoumaru. I just should have known better, of course with being a samurai you would have to have your senses constantly alert. So let's just forgive and forget, okay?" Kagome said, ending with a smile to which Kenshin smiled back and nodded. "So I've been meaning to tell you, we are going to be looking for a nearby village or town and we are going to be getting directions on how to get to Kyoto." She said quickly and without looking at him, scared of what his reaction might be.

"That sounds like a good idea." Kenshin said and picked up the food Kagome had left him and started to eat. "If possible I would also like to see if there is a form of sword smith, I have not got any of my tools with me to look after my Katana. I have money. Ah! Would I be able to use the money in this era?"

"I doubt it." Kagome said, surprised that he had not got annoyed about the fact that they were obviously lost. "It's usually trade. But don't worry, Miroku has ways of getting everything for us." Kenshin just gave her a confused look. "You'll see." She said with a laugh and returned back to the fire that had been set up and joined everyone else in setting up where they were going to sleep.

"Kenshin!" Kagome called. "It's going to be a cold night so you should come closer to the fire." Kenshin nodded before getting up and walking over towards them. "Here I have a spare sleeping bag." She said with a smile but he just stared at the strange material in bafflement before shaking his head.

"No, but thank you Kagome-Dono, I'm more comfortable sleeping upright." He said before excusing himself and sat against a tree, sword in the usual position by his shoulder.

The next day they all rose early and soon set off in search of a town or village. Before midday had come they had reached a bustling town and Kenshin looked around bright eyed.

"This looks like it could be Kofu!" Kenshin exclaimed and then suddenly walked up to someone, they nodded before they walked off. "It is" He said excitedly when he returned to the group.

"Is there something special about this place?" Sango asked, curious.

"No, not at all, but from here I know how to get to Kyoto, there's two ways actually, we can got north and further inland, following the roads, or south and towards the coast, there are also more towns and villages along the south. At least there is in my era. Both ways the road joins up at Kusatsu then it's along the road to…." Suddenly Kenshin froze "Along the road to…."

"Kenshin?" Kagome asked as Kenshin went silent and seemed to be deep in thought, hearing her he suddenly looked up once again, blinked and then flicked to the others, as if he had forgotten what he had just been saying. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, thank you Kagome-Dono." He replied and still remained quiet, everyone looked at each other confused. "Is something wrong?" He asked noticing their looks.

"Kenshin where do we go after Kusatsu?" Kagome asked and Kenshin froze remembering what he had been talking about and looked down again.

"…Otsu" He said quietly and walked away leaving the group confused once more. Eventually they followed and Sango led him to a swords smith, there he was able to get a whetstone and some polishing paper, he thanked Sango and was walking around the rest the town with a smile.

Miroku had soon found a rich looking house on the outskirts of town when night was falling and convinced the owner that the house was possessed and that he would exorcise it, he soon proceeded with his fake exorcism and joined the others, they were then offered food and rest for their services which they gladly accepted.

Kenshin soon pulled out his whetstone, wet it a little and then started to work on his Katana. Kagome and the others just watched him work, Kagome having never seen anyone sharpen their sword before, Same with Inuyasha. Miroku didn't seem to be paying that much attention but Sango was staring at the process intently.

Kenshin would frequently lift his sword up to the light to examine it before he returned it to the whetstone, Once he had finished with the whetstone he took out the polishing paper, wet that slightly also and gently moved it across the blades edge. Once he was done he re sheathed his sword and re-joined the others.

"I've never seen that technique before." Sango said as he sat back down next to them and picked up some food.

"I was taught the method by my master." Kenshin replied with a smile before he started to eat.

"How long have you been doing it?" Sango asked, Kagome cast a glance in her direction and saw the curiosity in her eyes.

"I suppose since my master took me in so maybe seven or eight years."

"It's really good, do you mind if I just take a look at your sword?" Kenshin looked at her for a long moment before he eventually agreed, slowly taking out his sword and carefully passed it to Sango. Whose arms dropped slightly at the weight.

"Careful." Kenshin said.

"It's so heavy." Sango exclaimed in surprised.

"It has to be, if it's too light the attacks for the Hiten Mitsurugi-Ryu would be ineffective. More weight means more power. Less weight and you are doing nothing to your opponent."

"I see, I suppose that makes sense, especially with the speed you are at as well. I'm surprised that you can move so quickly with a sword like this though." Sango said while examining the edge. "And the edge is cut really well. Would it be possible for you to show me how to sharpen mine like this?" In response Kenshin laughed, earning him more confused looks from everyone.

"Another that would like lessons from me. I'm starting to worry a little. But yes I will teach you Sango-Dono."

Sango and Kenshin moved over to one side after they had eaten and Kenshin guided her while she sharpened her own sword. Each step carefully watched by the samurai until she had a sharpened edge on her own sword.

"Do you think this technique would also work on my Hiraikos?" Sango asked. Kenshin looked in thought for a moment before responding.

"I can't be certain because of how different a weapon it is but I would assume it would sharpen in the same way, it would probably just take more work."

With that Sango took out her weapon and got to work, Kenshin noting that he didn't need to stick around and watch this time he returned to the others, Shippo had already fallen asleep and Kilala moved over to Kenshin once he sat down and curled up next to him. Kagome was getting her things together and walked towards the door.

"I'm heading off to my room to sleep, you both should get some rest too, you as well Sango." Sango looked up from her work and nodded getting her things herself and leaving the room, Miroku followed shortly after, leaving Inuyasha and Kenshin alone with the sleeping Shippo and Kilala.

"Could I ask you something Inuyasha?" Kenshin said after a long minute of silence. Inuyasha looked at him confused for a moment before he eventually nodded.

"Are you aware of your feelings towards Kagome?" Inuyasha's eyes widened in shock at the sudden question.

"What are you talking about?" He asked past a cough that had appeared.

"Well, you obviously have feelings about her don't you? I'm asking if you are actually aware that you care for her in that way." Kenshin continued serious and Inuyasha looked away in thought for a moment.

"Well I can't say that I don't care for her, but it's more complicated than just having feelings for her."

"That's what Sango-Dono and Miroku said but I can't understand why it can be so complicated."

"Well, I fell in love with someone else before Kagome was even here." Inuyasha said quietly and Kenshin remained silent for a moment.

"Another human?" He eventually asked seeing that Inuyasha was no longer speaking, the half demon just nodded in response. "What happened?" Kenshin asked and Inuyasha looked away saddened.

"We were turned against each other by a demon called Naraku, she was killed by him long ago, but somehow a witch of some sort was able to bring her back to life, she's not fully alive though, her body is not that of a humans, just clay but she has kept her spiritual powers and her soul."

"So because she came back to life you are still in love with her, but you have also developed feelings for Kagome and you can't choose between the two." Inuyasha just nodded again. "I see, that is very complicated, I don't envy you." Kenshin said and looked to Kilala sleeping beside him and gently stroked her back, she shifted slightly before she started purring.

"This might sound strange but you seem very gentle for a samurai." Inuyasha stated after he watched Kenshin for a moment.

"I suppose you are right." He replied with a smile, still stroking the cat demon next to him.

"You always add honorifics to the girls names too, is there a reason for it." Kenshin froze then and seemed to be in thought for a long moment before he eventually continued with stroking Kilala.

"That might possibly be because of Tomoe, I had not realised I had been doing it until now."

"Tomoe?"

"My late wife." Kenshin said without looking up. Inuyasha was quiet for a moment himself before he replied.

"I'm sorry. What happened?" He asked tentatively.

"I killed her."

_**I hope you enjoyed it, I'm not sure when another will be up because Uni has decided to give me exams D: So I'll probably be a bit busy with studying and revising and cramming until my head explodes **____** But I'll make sure to update as soon as possible :D At the very latest it should be sometime next week! If I haven't updated by then presume me to have died of exhaustion. :'(**_

_**~Killing Reality **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**I've finally updated! I am so sorry it has taken me this long I have just been drowned in work and I've still got more coming so the updates might continue to take some time to get up, but I will update :D Anyway I hope you enjoy the chapter **___

**Chapter 9**

"I killed her"

Inuyasha was stunned, different reactions flickering through him uncontrollably, first surprise, then disgust, then confusion. Before he could settle on one Kenshin spoke again.

"Of course it wasn't intentional, I was fighting the one who had kidnapped her, at the time my senses had been damaged in previous fights, because of this I settled for creating one last attack with all my strength into the blow, he was close enough so I would have hit him. That's when Tomoe stepped in front of me, it was too late to stop, by the time I realised what I had done it was already too late."

Inuyasha remained silent not knowing what to think or say while Kenshin was just looking down.

"That was about a year ago now, after everything had happened I was called back into battle, facing the Shinsengumi when I was pulled here."

They were both silent for a long moment before Kenshin stood, waking Kilala and he walked out of the room, leaving Inuyasha still stunned.

The next morning there was an uncomfortable atmosphere as everyone was eating breakfast, Inuyasha being the quietest unnerved Kagome and she cast a questioning look in his direction, but he just turned away. Sango noticed the exchange and looked to Miroku who just shrugged in response while Shippo and Kilala were heartily eating as if there was nothing wrong. Kenshin, having eaten his meal quickly had decided to talk a walk through the gardens that was decorating the house, stopping by a Sakura tree, it wasn't in bloom as it was close to Autumn but he still gazed upon it as if he could see the cherry blossoms on the branches.

Kagome soon finished her own meal before stepping outside herself, being joined by Kilala. She walked up to Kenshin and waited silently, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts, a moment passed in silence before Kilala broke it with a small mew and walked over to Kenshin. Snapped out of his thoughts he turned towards the small feline and bent down to stroke her.

"She's really taken with you, I've never seen her act this way with anyone other than Sango." Kagome said, gaining the samurai's attention. He just smiled in response and carried on stroking the small feline. "Could I ask you something?" Kagome said, trying to keep her nerves out of her voice but her unease was already apparent on her face.

"Anything, Kagome-Dono"

"What did you say to Inuyasha last night?" Kagome asked without even pausing. Kenshin looked to her for a moment before returning his gaze to the Sakura tree above them and the invisible cherry blossoms that he was envisioning.

"I just told him a little bit of my past, I hadn't realised that it had shocked him so much. I apologise, it must be hard for others to hear about it, I'll refrain from telling anyone in the future."

"I see." Kagome said, she clearly wanted to ask about what he had talked about but decided not to after seeing Inuyasha's reaction and Kenshin's feelings towards it. They were quiet for another long moment before Kenshin broke the silence.

"We should be getting back inside now, that we should." He said before walking back to the house leaving a surprised Kagome on her own with Kilala.

"That we should?" Kagome thought out loud before walking back to the house herself "Wonder where that came from."

Once inside everyone was collecting their things while Miroku was speaking to the head of the house.

"I thank you for your hospitality, and you can rest assured that you will never be plagued by demons or spirits again, and if you are just come and find me."

"Yes of course, thank you kind monk."

After everyone had collected their things they all left and was walking through the village, Inuyasha ahead and still deep in thought, Miroku and Sango where once again walking by each other, while Kagome was walking on her own, watching Kenshin match his pace with Inuyasha's to walk with the half demon. Kagome could see that they were talking but was too far away to hear anything, Shippo looked back from Miroku's shoulder and gestured for Kagome to come closer. Once she did she could pick up on what they were saying.

"I understand that I what I said last night has upset you somewhat. I wanted to apologise, I wasn't my intention to make you feel uncomfortable." She heard Kenshin say to the half demon.

"W-Where did you hear that from?" Inuyasha asked defensively

"Kagome-Dono of course. She noticed that something had troubled you and had come to ask me about it, she's very intuitive." She couldn't tell much if Inuyasha grunted at that or just stayed silent.

"It didn't so much as upset me, It's just I couldn't imagine that happening, I wouldn't know what to do if I did that to Kagome or…."

"Kikyo." Kenshin finished for him, shocking Kagome as she realised that Inuyasha must have told him about her. Miroku, Shippo and Sango looked over to Kagome hearing the name themselves but Kagome was not looking at them, instead looking down.

"Yeah." Inuyasha continued "Even though it was an accident, how you must have felt. I just can't understand."

"It was difficult, It took a long time to find the resolution to keep going forward and to put an end to the war for the sake of her memory."

"So that's why you want to get back as soon as possible."

"One reason yes, but I also want to stop the fighting for my own sake. I've done it long enough now." They were both quiet again for a long moment when Inuyasha spoke up once more.

"Does Kagome know?" Kenshin just shook his head in response.

"I have not told her, and me and Tomoe was of utmost secrecy I doubt it will have been heard of afterwards."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No." Kenshin's response was instantaneous, and looked to Inuyasha who was bearing a surprised look. "Would you want her to hear a story like that?" The demon looked away then and seemed to be in thought for a moment.

"No, I wouldn't." Kenshin just smiled.

They soon left the village and came across two roads, one leading north and the other leading south.

"So which way shall we go?" Kagome prompted. "North with less villages or south with more."

"The southern way leads closer to the coast doesn't it? We might be able to find clues about Naraku if we go that way." Sango said.

"Which way is quickest to Kyoto?" Inuyasha asked and everyone looked to Kenshin.

"I suppose they both take the same amount of time, but South would be better because of the villages, if we go north we could run out of resources before coming across a village. Also Sango-Dono is right, if going south might also give you clues about Naraku then it is for the best."

"Then it's settled, south it is." Kagome said cheerfully and the group all took the road to the left and headed to Kyoto.

They were not on the road for long when both Kagome and Inuyasha froze.

"I sense the sacred jewel, and it's coming in fast!" Kagome stated and turned her head in the direction she was sensing the shard.

"Don't get your hopes up. I know that damn scent."

No sooner than Inuyasha had said it the group was joined by a long, dark haired male. The sudden appearance of the new member had Kenshin's hand on his hilt, but seeing no one else make a move to attack he resumed his normal stance and took in the sight in front of him.

The male had taken Kagome's hands and had them held to his chest which was covered with a dark armour. His eyes were a deep blue but he had features that were not human, such as elongated ears and a tail.

"Ahh, Koga, what a nice surprise." Kagome said with a faked smile and tone.

"The hell it is! What the hell do you want you mutt?!" Inuyasha said angrily, gaining the attention of the new demon.

"I don't need to answer to you, you mangey dog!"

Kenshin kept watching the argument unfold in front of him and moved towards Sango and Miroku.

"Miroku, would you be able to tell me about what is happening here? It seems like this is a regular occurrence."

"Yes, Koga you see is a wolf demon, we first came across him through Naraku who had one of his incarnations slay most of his tribe, this was pinned on Inuyasha who was eventually able to prove his innocence but later on Koga had taken a liking to Kagome and is still trying to gain her favour over Inuyasha. Which is why Inuyasha doesn't like him."

"And Kagome seems flattered by the compliments and doesn't have the heart to tell Koga to stop trying." Sango finished.

"I see." Kenshin simply stated and continued to watch the ongoing argument. "What do you mean by Incarnation?"

"Naraku is able to cast of parts of himself which generate into new forms, we call these incarnations and they vary with appearance but they all have the same scar of a spider on their backs so we are able to tell what they are." Sango explained.

During this time Inuyasha appeared to have lost his temper and had drawn Testusaiga and had it pointed at Koga.

"Oh. So you think you can take me on do ya?" Koga taunted angering Inuyasha further.

"You sure you don't want to run away with you tail between your legs?"

"What is that?" Kenshin asked to Sango and Miroku quietly after feeling a strange pressure in the air which seemed to be growing.

"What?" Sango asked but froze when she felt the pressure herself. "Hold up guys! I'm sensing a demonic aura, and a strong one closing fast!"

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I want to just add an extra note to say thank you for the reviews so far, regarding Jinenji, I'll think of a scenario which would be suited for him but he'll probably make an appearance a bit later on. Thank you for the idea though **___

_**~Killing Reality**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**I've finally updated, I'm sorry it has taken me so long, I should be able to update a bit for frequently in the next few weeks. Also in a response a question from 'InuBattousai' the timeline is just after Naraku disappears after Inuyasha breaks his barrier, and before the band of seven, I might start bringing them in later but I don't know yet. I'll see how it goes lol. Anyways enjoy the chapter :D**_

**Chapter 10**

"What the hell is that?" Came Inuyasha's voice when the demonic aura revealed itself. The demon itself didn't look too spectacular, it had a relatively humanoid form with horns sprouting down its spine which had started from a snout on his face. Large yellow teeth protruding obscenely and glowing full brigh red eyes set in dark brown skin.

The demon just heard Inuyasha and laughed, its voice echoing all around the area with a rumble.

"You must be Inuyasha." Came the deep voice again as the demon rested his glowing orbs on the silver heard male.

"What? Another low life demon that thinks it can defeat me?" Inuyasha growled and readied his stance against the demon, ignoring Koga who was just glowering silently at the newcomer.

"Thinks? No. I know that I can defeat you."

"Inuyasha look out!" Kagome called as the large demon swept his arm across, towards Inuyasha, but the half demon evaded it easily by leaping out of the way and brought his sword down to land a blow on the demon.

"He's forgetting everything I taught him. I don't know why I bothered." Kenshin said as he watched Inuyasha move against the demon. They had continued fighting, each missing with their blows.

"That's Inuyasha for you. In one ear, out the other." Kagome said with a sigh.

"I can hear ya you know!" The half demon shouted while avoiding another blow.

"Well it looks like you have this one covered, mutt. While you're busy I'll catch Naraku!" Koga called before leaving in a tornado just as quickly as he arrived.

"Well he was helpful." Kagome said watching the wolf demon go, followed slowly by his companions. "By the way, Inuyasha. The demon has a jewel shard!"

With this Inuyasha's attempts at landing a hit became more desperate and everyone watched with eagerness to see the outcome.

"Argh!" Came the cry from Inuyasha who had been knocked away and was now lying on the ground where he had landed.

"Hahaha" Came the menacing chuckle from the demon. "I told you I could defeat you."

"Inuyasha!" Kagome gasped as she saw the half demon lying on the ground.

In response to Inuyasha being downed Kenshin stepped forward and slowly drew his sword, while Sango readied her Hiraikos and Miroku his staff.

"No!" Came the voice from the ground, everyone looked to see Inuyasha slowly rise. "No, I can handle a nobody demon like this. You lot just stay there and don't interfere!" He said, Sango and Miroku hesitated before complying while Kenshin stared at the half demon for a moment before eventually agreeing and sheathed his sword.

Inuyasha soon recovered and readied his sword once more, however instead of charging straight ahead he remained where he was.

"Let's see how you do against this! Wind Scar!" He shouted and swung the Testusaiga releasing devastating yellow streams of light that tore through the ground and soon reached the demon, engulfing it in its destruction. Inuyasha watched on as the light faded and the demon remained stood where it was, earning a surprised reaction from everyone.

"The wind scar didn't work?" Kagome stated but it sounded more like a question. Inuyasha just growled before charging ahead with the Tetsusaiga, not giving the demon enough time to recover before he struck the top of the demons head. However the sword did not cut anything and in his momentary surprise Inuyasha was grabbed by the demon and thrown across the area while Tetsusaiga laid abandoned next to the large demon.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called again only more desperate, but there was no response, without waiting Sango and Miroku rushed to the demon and tried to bring it down with their attacks. "Inuyasha!" Kagome called again, still receiving no response and ran over to the downed half demon while Kenshin joined in the fight with the other two, followed swiftly by Kilala who assisted Sango by having her ride on her back.

Kenshin was landing strike after strike on the large demon but his sword was unable to cut through the tough skin, Sango and Miroku were having just as must difficulty and their stamina was all but spent.

"Inuyasha!" Came Kagome's voice once more, but there was something off. Kenshin spared a glance in her direction but froze as he saw the sight before him.

Inuyasha was stood once more, but some of his features had changed, his eyes where a glowing red like the demon they were facing adorned with narrow blue slits. His teeth had grown larger giving his face a feral appearance and his claws had grown in length. Kenshin didn't have any time to register what was happening as he had to evade yet another blow that came from the large demon that they were battling with.

In the next instant he heard the demon howl in pain, Kenshin looked up and saw the newly transformed Inuyasha slice through the thick skin of the demon, dark blood now covering his clawed hand. Kenshin looked on baffled by the newfound strength as Inuyasha continued attacking the demon, eventually directing a slash towards the demons neck. Kenshin watched as something flew out and landed next to him.

He bent down and picked up the small light pink shard, but his attention was once again turned towards the demon that was now eroding away, as if it had already been dead long before and was returning to its decayed state.

Sango and Miroku moved over to Kenshin with Kagome following slowly from where she had been with Inuyasha.

"What's going on?" Kenshin asked the three as they joined him, they had their eyes locked to Inuyasha, not moving quickly so as to not alert him.

"Inuyasha?" Came Kagome's voice, it was much gentler, as if trying to approach a wild animal but calming it beforehand.

In response to his name Inuyasha turned sharply and Kenshin noticed that he also had purple markings on his face, similar to what he saw on his brothers only more jagged, his eyes were still a deep red with blue slits and he looked completely wild and dangerous. Also sensing a dangerous pressure coming from the demon Kenshins hand instinctively rested in the hilt of his sword.

Inuyasha caught this movement and without warning charged towards him, his blooded hand raised to attack. With Kagome being next to him, Kenshin pushed her aside before leaping out of the way and landed behind Inuyasha.

"What is this crazed demon doing?!" He shouted to the others keeping a trained eye on the half demon who was watching him intently.

"His demonic blood has woken up because he's let go of Tetsusaiga, we need to get the sword back to him otherwise he won't stop." Kagome called. "Please, don't kill him." She finished, Kenshin looked to her for a long moment before returning his gaze to the demon form of Inuyasha.

"So you need your sword back." He said quietly and looked over to where Tetsusaiga was lying next to the bones of the demon that Inuyasha defeated. "And I'm not to kill you." He continued. He looked back at Inuyasha waiting to see if the demon would move.

'_This is not an ideal situation, he would reach me quicker than I will reach that sword. He doesn't look to have any self preservation either, he's as open as a book but any injuries sustained won't slow him down.'_

Kagome watched on, not able to see Inuyasha clearly with his back to her, but she could tell Kenshin was deep in thought.

'_I hope he doesn't kill him'_

A full minute in silence had passed and neither one had moved, before Kenshin slowly drew his sword.

'_This is the only thing that would work' _

He thought to himself. Inuyasha reacted instantly and rushed towards Kenshin again. However the samurai didn't move, instead he remained stood where he was, and flicked his blade over and as Inuyasha got closer Kenshin swung his blade and hit Inuyasha with the dull side and sent the demon flying, without missing a beat he ran towards the Tetsusaiga as Inuyasha recovered and followed after him.

As Kenshin reached the blade he picked it up by the hilt and threw it to Inuyasha who was almost behind him.

The half demon caught the sword out of reflex but nothing happened. Kenshin looked on in shock before casting a questioning glance to Kagome but she just shook her head in disbelief and Kenshin realised that something had gone wrong.

"Now what?!" He shouted while Inuyasha continued to pursue him. He blocked Inuyasha's arms, which had thrown aside the sword to come after the samurai. "If this keeps up I don't know how long I will be able to hold back."

"I don't know" Sango called as Kagome was too close to tears to be able to respond. "For now just try and knock him out."

"Very well" Kenshin said and started on his own attacks, still using the blunt side of his weapon so as to not inflict fatal injuries but Inuyasha still kept coming and with already having faced the demon he didn't have much stamina to spare in keeping Inuyasha at bay.

Kenshin once more drove Inuyasha away but the demon still kept on coming and soon after landed on of his strikes on the samurais shoulder.

"Argh!" Kenshin cried in frustration, immediately flipping his sword back around and stuck back at the demon, landing a large gash across Inuyasha's torso, but he didn't stop, slashing two more times he cut the both of Inuyasha's legs, restricting the demons movement and had Inuyasha on his knees, once lowered Kenshin used the hilt of his sword and struck Inuyasha in the head, knocking the demon out cold.

With the fight over he dropped his sword and clutched at his wound while breathing hard, Kagome and the others rushing over to the both of them. Miroku checked Inuyasha by lifting one of his closed eyelids.

"It's no good, he's still in his demon form." He said.

"Try getting the sword." Kagome said and in response Sango went over to the discarded Tetsusaiga and placed it in Inuyasha's hand while Kagome tried to get a look at Kenshin's wound.

"It's fine." He said through clenched teeth trying to regain his own control of his anger. "Did that damn sword work?" He asked to Sango unnerving her with his glare. Instead Miroku took another look at Inuyasha's eyes but they still hadn't returned to their normal yellow.

"Not completely." The monk stated. "His claws and teeth have returned to their original size, it's just the markings and his eyes that are still here."

"What should we do?" Kagome asked, clear worry and desperation in her voice.

"I'm not sure. Last time this happened he wasn't able to hear you, and Sesshoumaru was able to calm him down by knocking him out. But because if his victory against his fathers' enemy from long ago we haven't had another incident so maybe something is different." Miroku said and they all seemed deep in thought for a long moment until Kenshin spoke up, anger still heard in his tone.

"Well for the time being we tie him up, hopefully he'll come to his senses then." He said, everyone looked shocked for a moment before they nodded their consent, not knowing what else they could do.

"I suppose one upside to this is that it is a new moon tonight." Sango said, Kagome lit up at the news while Kenshin looked on in confusion but did not get an answer.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, like I said before I'll try to have another one up soon, I'll have more free time over the next three weeks due to Christmas holidays :D **_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Another Chapter finally up, I am really sorry that it has taken me so long to get this one up, Christmas with the family kept me too busy to update and when I did have time I had really bad writers block, literally half way through this chapter, so I am sorry again it has taken this long. But I hope that you enjoy it :)**_

**Chapter 11**

"So is there something special about the fact that it is a new moon tonight?" Kenshin asked, his voice still carrying anger and his eyes still glowing a fierce yellow. Everyone had taken to avoiding him as much as possible while they were tieing Inuyasha to a nearby tree. The half demon was still unconscious when everyone had gathered together as the sky slowly started to darken, and only Kagome was brave enough to be close to Kenshin.

In response to his question everyone looked towards the still sleeping half demon, this only irritated Kenshin further who flicked his dark look between all of them waiting for an answer

"Well?" He asked again, letting his irritation seep into his voice, with this he gained Kagome's attention who looked to him nervously.

"I know Inuyasha would probably be annoyed when we tell you but I suppose it doesn't matter at this point. Each new moon he becomes a full human." There was a silence that settled along the group and Kenshin flicked his gaze to the demon still tied to the tree who now seemed to be stirring slightly.

"I see" Kenshin simply stated and rose from where he was sat and walked away from the group and into the nearby forest. Kagome watched him until he was no longer in sight but couldn't mistake the obvious sounds of a sword being drawn and being swung repeatedly and settled on the thought that he was trying to calm himself down from the intense battle he had experienced by exercising.

"I didn't expect him to hold his own for so long against Inuyasha the way he was." Miroku said when he was sure the samurai was out of earshot, Sango nodded in agreement while Kagome shook hers.

"No, I think he was only having difficulty because he didn't want to kill him, if he had the free will to kill Inuyasha I suppose he wouldn't be tied to the tree right now and Kenshin wouldn't have been injured fending him off."

"How can you be so sure?" Sango asked, slightly surprised at what Kagome suggested.

"Well I'm not positive about it, but I was the only one that saw Kenshin fight Inuyasha when he first arrived. The only thing that saved Inuyasha was the fact that I was there and his ability to heal quickly. I think Kenshin is quicker to anger than Inuyasha is and we need to be careful around him."

"What the hell?!" Came a familiar voice from a certain tree.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called happily and she rushed over to the half demon but froze before she reached him. "Inuyasha?" She asked cautiously and everyone else soon came up beside her, equally as shocked. "Is that really you?"

"Of course it is. Why the hell am I tied to a tree?"

Kagome's only reaction was to stare at him confused, obviously he retained his personality as well as self control and sanity but his eyes were still a glowing red and he still had purple markings on his face.

"This is very unusual" Miroku said, voicing what everyone was thinking and earning himself agreeable nods from the others.

"What?" Inuyasha asked angrily "Unusual that I still happened to be tied here? Is no one going to get me off this thing?"

"Ah yeah." Kagome said, before she reached him she noticed that the sun finally sunk behind the hills and darkness quickly spread across the landscape, when she looked again she noticed that Inuyasha had transformed into his human self, his normal silver hair now a deep black, with eyes the same colour and his small dog ears replaced with human ones while his claws vanished entirely.

"Now this is certainly a strange sight." Came another voice from just above where Inuyasha was sat, gaining everyone's attention. Inuyasha looked up and noticed an amber eyed Kenshin sitting above him in the tree that he was tied to. He swiftly jumped down and unsheathed his katana, kagome's breath caught when she saw the glistening blade and took a step forward but Kenshin only cut the ropes that were constricting the now human Inuyasha. "I suppose that in the state you are in now you won't be causing any more harm." He said before walking back to the fire that everyone had been sat around earlier.

"What does he mean?" Inuyasha asked but everyone just looked down. "What happened?" his voice held a tone of worry and slight desperation as he tried to scour through his memory but came up with nothing and Kagome just stared at him sadly before eventually handing him the Tetsusaiga, making him realise that the fact he wasn't already in possession of it explained everything.

Everyone was sat in an uncomfortable silence around the campfire which had the addition of Inuyasha who was watching the flames absently while still trying to sift through his memory but once again coming up with nothing.

"Have you treated your wound Kenshin?" Sango asked, her tone held concern but her question bore a response from both the samurai and the half demon. Kagome looked at her shocked, surprised that Sango would touch a subject that would hurt Inuyasha and at the same time rekindle Kenshin's annoyance of the situation. But Sango was oblivious and only asked after noticing the blood that still seemed to be flowing from his shoulder.

Kenshin seemed to have noticed for the first time that he was bleeding before he removed one half of his kimono and revealed four deep gashes, blood still running from them.

"Could I trouble you for some water, Kagome" He said plainly, Kagome just nodded before hurrying to a nearby river, ignoring the fact that he didn't use his normal suffix with her name. Inuyasha just looked on speechless, recognising the wound that he had obviously created.

"Kenshin" He started before Kagome returned quickly with water. Kenshin got a towel and dabbed it in the water before bringing it to his wound. He winced when the cold liquid came into contact with his skin and he visibly tensed.

"Do you want me to help?" Kagome asked while trying to keep her eyes away from the gashes.

"No." He responded simply, his tone still laced with anger and Kagome then noticed the numerous scars that adorned his torso and couldn't stop the gasp that passed her lips, hearing the sound Kenshin looked up briefly before reaching for something in the sleeve of his kimono. "Do not be so shocked, a few scars are a small punishment for my line of work." He said as he spread a salve on his four new wounds that would turn into new scars.

"But there are so many of them." She said sadly and Kenshin looked up at her for a long moment before nodding in agreement.

"Yes. Could you hand me those bandages." He said, Kagome nodded quickly and passed him the bandages and she watched on as he covered his new wound with ease. Once he finished he returned his kimono to its original state and returned the salve into his sleeve pocket. "There is no need to worry, I have survived worse." He said. Kagome simply nodded before she turned her gaze to the fire.

"I'm sorry, Kenshin." Came the low voice of Inuyasha, he had been staring at Kenshin's shoulder the whole time, as if still looking at the four gashes that he had left there. "I can't remember what happened but I know that what I did was unforgivable." He continued. Kenshin just stared at him for a long moment before looking down.

"Perhaps an explanation would make it easier for me to accept any kind of apology." He stated not unkindly but his tone still held annoyance.

"There's nothing much to it." Miroku started. "Inuyasha is a half demon but son of a very powerful demon, his father had left him Tetsusaiga to seal the power residing in his demonic blood. If Tetsusaiga is no longer in his possession and Inuyasha's life is in danger then the demonic blood awakens and takes over. When in that state he has no control over himself and fights until he is knocked out or killed. We figured that the way to reverse the transformation was to have him once again wield Tetsusaiga but that didn't seem to work in this case."

"So you mean to say that there is a chance that once the sun is up he could quite possibly return to that frenzic state?" Kenshin asked. Everyone just froze in response and looked to each other confused. "You mean you didn't consider that as a possibility? As far as I recall he had been knocked out and the sword returned to him and he didn't return to normal. The only thing that I can gauge which has brought him back to his senses is his human form." Everyone looked to Inuyasha stunned while the half demon just flicked his gaze to each of them in return.

"I don't know do I?" Inuyasha said shifting uncomfortably under everyone's gaze.

"Maybe Totosai will know?" Kagome suggested, shifting everyone's gaze to hers, Sango and Miroku nodded knowingly and in agreement while Kenshin looked between them confused. "Totosai is the one who forged Tetsusaiga" Kagome explained, Kenshin nodded in understanding before he rose then rested himself against a nearby tree. Ignoring everyone's watchful gaze.

"So what should we do?" Sango asked after a moment of silence causing everyone to look towards Inuyasha.

"We could always tie him back up to the tree." Kenshin said mockingly from where he was sat and no one missed the tone of amusement in his voice.

"Hey!" Inuyasha exclaimed earning a laugh from everyone "Ouch" he continued and raised a hand to his neck with a sharp slap, Kenshin looked on confused while everyone else had understanding in their eyes. "Well hello Myoga, not seen you for a long while."

Curiosity overtook Kenshin and he rose from where he was sat and looked into Inuyasha's hand to see a small flea.

"You have a pet flea? I guess that shouldn't surprise me, you being a dog and all that." Kenshin said with a smirk earning a glare from Inuyasha and quieted laughs from the others.

"I am nobodies pet!" Came Myoga's small voice, catching Kenshin's attention once more. "I happen to be a trusted advisor." The flea continued smugly.

"More like a cowardly advisor, now what do you want Myoga, you never drop by for a friendly visit."

"It just so happens Inuyasha, that I know the reason of your difficulty to return back to your usual half demon form."

This statement brought everyone closer together around the flea, eager to know what was coming next, even Inuyasha looked curious and hopeful.

Knowing he had everyone's undivided attention Myoga continued.

"The reason that you could not reverse when you held the Tetsusaiga is because you are undergoing your demonic maturity."

"Demonic Maturity?" Inuyasha echoed sceptically raising an eyebrow in question.

"Allow me to explain." Myoga continued. "Demonic maturity usually only occurs in full blooded demons, it is when they get to an age where they are able to control all of their demonic powers and abilities, it can happen at any time, for your father and brother it occurred for them when they were only fifty years old, I can only assume that you are experiencing this because your demonic blood is strong."

"So it like puberty for demons?" Kenshin asked and everyone tried once more to stifle their laughter.

"Yes." Myoga agreed, not realising that Inuyasha was turning more and more red.

"So what does that mean for Inuyasha?" Kagome asked once she had controlled her laughter, her voice now carrying a worried tone.

"That is something I do not know, I asked Totosai but he is just as unsure as I am, the only thing we can do really is wait and see what happens in the morning." Everyone fell silent and looked down in thought.

"You must have some idea." Kenshin said, slight anger once again creeping back into his voice but his eyes remained violet.

"Well after discussing this with Totosai, we feel that there a few possibilities the first being that with the timing of the new moon his human blood should weaken the strengthened demonic blood, and in the morning he should still appear as his normal half demon self but he might be a little stronger." Myoga said in a cheerful and yet hopeful tone but Kenshin ignored it.

"And the others?" Kenshin pried and Myoga fell silent for a moment.

"Well, another possibility is that the human transformation only delays the effects and when morning comes he could revert to the demonic state he was in before the new moon." Everyone fell silent at this but Kenshin's stare remained fixed on the small flea.

"And?"

"The last possibility is that because of the human transformation at the time of his demonic maturity could result in him staying human forever."

_**Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter leave comments on which option you think I'll choose with Inuyasha :) sorry again for how long it took, I'll try to update again when I have the time. **_

_**I hope everyone had a good Christmas and I wish everyone a happy new year :D**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Here's another Chapter, I hope everyone had a good new year :) I just want to mention because of a few reviews that there is a reason why Kenshin has been harsh with Inuyasha which will get explained in due time, most of the reason gets mentioned in this chapter, so go easy on the poor guy lol. :) Well anyway enjoy the chapter :)**_

**Chapter 12**

After hearing the news from Myoga the group had agreed that it would be for the best that Inuyasha was to be tied up once more to the tree before dawn would come. The half demon was reluctant at first but after being told the reasons he eventually agreed, however they allowed him to stay among them an hour before dawn so that he wouldn't be tied to the tree all night.

It wasn't long after the discussion with the flea that Kenshin had once again took his katana and ventured a little way into the small forest that was nearby, allowing the built up tense atmosphere to lift off the group with his absence.

"I think there's definitely something wrong with him." Kagome stated as soon as he was gone.

"Absolutely, I mean I know people have a different mindset and behaviour when in battle but you never take it out of the battle. He's worse than Inuyasha with his attitude." Sango agreed angrily.

"That's true, I can't imagine the reason for the continued hostility, even with Inuyasha's apology it didn't seem to do any good." Miroku continued while everyone nodded in agreement, Inuyasha included.

"Maybe there's a reason behind it? Maybe something is going on?" Kagome suggested but she didn't receive any responses from the others. "Maybe one of us should go and talk to him?" She asked while Sango immediately shook her head, Kagome moved her hopeful gaze to Inuyasha who looked at her stunned for a moment before shaking his own head.

"I would if I think it would do any good, but the hostility is obviously directed at me, I would more than likely make things worse." Kagome sighed at his response before she reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Very well then, I think I would be the best one to go." Miroku said and everyone looked to him surprised at his boldness. "Well maybe some words from a monk may help to calm him down, or at least tell us what is going on that has angered him so much. I shouldn't be too long, Kilala." He said encouragingly and looked towards the small feline. "This is hard for me to ask, but could you come along with me? I feel that your affection towards him may help. Also if he gets too angry and decides to see me as an enemy I would love for your assistance." He said with a grim smile while everyone looked on in horror and shock.

"This is a bad idea Miroku, maybe it's best for you to just leave him be and if he wants he can explain what is wrong himself when he's ready." Sango said hastily hoping to stop Miroku from going.

"No no Sango, it is better to get things out in the open rather than keep them hidden and building before becoming too much trouble to deal with." Miroku said while shaking his head "It probably wouldn't go that far anyway, If I have any feeling that I am doing no good I will stop right away and then return. Kilala?" Miroku continued and the small feline swiftly jumped up to his shoulder and rested there while he headed in the same direction that Kenshin had minutes ago.

"I definitely have a bad feeling about this." Sango said as she watched the monk go.

"Agreed." Kagome said. "But I suppose all we can do is trust his judgement and hope it turns out for the better.

_Meanwhile…._

"Kenshin?... Kenshin?" Miroku called as he entered the forest, listening and watching for any signs of the swordsman. "Kenshin?" He called again but was answered with further silence. "I suppose he must have gone deeper into the forest." He thought out loud to himself and followed a small trail deeper into the forest still keeping a watch out for any signs and calling out.

Miroku had been walking for a while and was debating whether or not to turn back and wait back with the others when he heard heavy breathing ahead. He sped up his pace and followed the sound before he came across a clearing with Kenshin in the centre.

The Swordsman had one knee on the ground, his sword was in it's saya but Kenshin had it upright from the ground and using it as a support. His head was down and he was breathing heavily and quickly.

"Kenshin?" Miroku called again before hurrying towards him.

"Stay back!" Came Kenshin's voice, it was strained and weak but the warning of danger was unmissable.

"Kenshin, what's going on?" Miroku asked worried, but kept his distance.

"I-I don't know, ARGH!" Miroku watched as a violent tremor shook through Kenshin's small frame, lowering the swordsman to both knees.

"What happened Kenshin?" Miroku asked with desperation.

"I don't know! Argh!" Another tremor ripped through Kenshin and Miroku couldn't miss the pain in his voice.

"Please, let me come over and help you."

"N-No! Whatever this is, it's dangerous. I can't keep up the self control for much longer."

"What should I do?" Miroku asked while he watched another tremor pass through Kenshin but he didn't receive an answer and the tremors kept coming and Kenshin was in more pain. "Kenshin?!" Miroku shouted when the tremors wouldn't stop.

"Get - help" Kenshin managed to wheeze out eventually. Without another thought Miroku ran back the way he came, Kilala running beside him and soon reached the others, panting as he got there.

"Miroku? What happened?" Sango asked when she saw him, worry obvious in her tone, he just shook his head to alleviate her worries that Kenshin had hurt him.

"There's something wrong with Kenshin, he says whatever it is that's happening is dangerous, but he needs help, he's in a lot of pain and only getting worse. We need to go to him quickly." Miroku explained and everyone got up and followed the monk into the forest.

Once they reached the clearing Kagome couldn't stop the gasp that left her throat while everyone else looked on in horror.

"What the hell Miroku?! What happened to him?!" Inuyasha shouted to the monk but Miroku just shook his head in shock not taking his eyes of Kenshin.

The swordsman had gotten a lot worse in the monks absence, he was still knelt grasping his sword, tremors shaking him continuously, but he was covered in blood. His scar on his face looked as if it was brand new rather than a year old with crimson liquid flowing from it continuously, his blue kimono was a deep red as well as his hakama, one of his hands let go of the sword and gripped at his most recent wound that had reopened and was also pouring with blood.

Kagome was frozen to where she stood, not having a clue what to do to help, or what was happening when she sensed something familiar coming from his direction.

'_He has a jewel shard!' _She thought to herself _'Could it be the shard that's causing this?' _Before she could voice her discovery Inuyasha had moved over to the swordsman, whose energy had left him entirely while he slumped against his upright katana, tremors still moving him even as he was fading out of consciousness.

"Kenshin!" Inuyasha shouted, trying to keep the swordsman awake as he saw his yellow eyes starting to close. "Kenshin! You need to keep awake." He continued, wanting to shake him to keep him awake but couldn't see anywhere he could touch without causing harm because of all the reopened scars.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called from further back gaining the half demons attention. "He has a jewel shard, try getting that, it might stop whatever is going on"

"Where is it?" Inuyasha shouted back.

"He's got it in his left Kimono sleeve." She called, without waiting Inuyasha sifted through the pocket before coming into contact with the shard. As soon as he had it he flung it away from the swordsman and Kagome ran to pick it up and watched as Kenshin's breathing slowly started to ease and the tremors faded away. Still exhausted Kenshin slumped while Inuyasha caught him before he fell to the ground.

Everyone moved closer seeing that everything was over but were still alarmed at the rate of blood that was still flowing from Kenshin's seemingly old wounds made new.

"We need to get him bandaged up, and quickly." Sango said and without another word Kagome reached into her bag and pulled out roll after roll of bandages and handed them to Inuyasha who was closer, not wanting to be near that much blood, having never seen such a large amount come from one person at one time or enough of it that she could smell it from a distance.

The half demon got to work quickly, focusing more on deeper looking wounds that seemed more life threatening than the smaller ones, it seemed to take an age before he was finally done and Kenshin appeared to be resting peacefully now almost wrapped up entirely in bandages, while Sango and Kilala went back to their original camp and moved everything to the clearing they were in now, not wanting to move Kenshin so as to not hurt him.

By the time they had the camp remade it was close to dawn and Miroku assisted Sango in securing Inuyasha to a nearby tree. With nothing else to do but wait they sat around the fire in silence.

"Myoga." Kagome called and the flea, having been on Kilala for most of the night came over to Kagome's knee and looked to her expectantly. "What should we do if Inuyasha reverts back to his full demon form?" She asked sadly.

"Well there is not much that we can do. I suppose it is a state he would need to come out of himself, outside help would probably not be of any use only make things worse." Myoga explained.

"A-And, what if he remains a human?" She asked quietly trying to fight back tears and speak past the lump that had formed in her throat.

"That's another difficult question miss Kagome, as both occurrences are things that have never happened before I am just working on speculation. I suppose that if he remained in his human form there is even less that we can do. Totosai did mention that there may be a way of returning him back to his half demon form, but at this time he was avoiding questions so I believe that he had no clue."

With this Kagome could no longer hold back her tears and Sango and Miroku looked on sadly, not able to do anything to comfort her. From his tree Inuyasha hung his head, angry for not being near her, to assure her that everything would be alright, when he looked up again he saw that the sun was rising and everyones eyes were on him apart from Kenshin's. Kagome's were full of tears, were bloodshot with staying up the whole night but held hope. Sango's were concerned and nervous, Miroku expectant, Shippo's were fearful while Kilala was unreadable.

He breathed his own sigh of nervousness and soon felt his demon blood pulse awake through him as the light of the sun reached his face. The pulsing felt normal, like it had every month when he returned to his half demon state and was about to breath another sigh of relief when suddenly the pulsing escalated and became more powerful, he could feel the new strength physically flow through his veins, but instead of welcoming it he fought against it, gritting his teeth as he felt his transformation continue from being a half demon to becoming a full one, his teeth enlarged without his consent and he grit his jaw together harder, and dug in his claws to the ground as he felt them grow longer. He felt two sharp jolts of pain as his purple markings grew on his face feeling as if they were burning his skin.

"No!" He growled at and continued to fight his own blood, Kagome looked on in despair as she watched Inuyasha struggle with himself, she kept watching for his eyes but he held them shut tight and didn't allow them to open while he clenched his jaw together and held his hands now in fists and blood pouring from them because of his claws digging into them.

"Inuyasha." She called softly, hoping that it would help. Hearing her voice his eyes snapped open and Kagome looked surprised to see that they were still his normal amber and she couldn't help but smile in relief. "Inuyasha, you can do this" She said but Inuyasha closed his eyes again and started to shake with the inner battle he was having with himself.

Another age seemed to pass while Inuyasha struggled with himself before Kagome got up resolutely and walked over towards him and placed her arms around him and pulled him closer and cried.

"Please Inuyasha, you can do this. You have to." She sobbed while Inuyasha continued to shake. Miroku and Sango took a step towards them instinctively but stopped when they noticed that Inuyasha unclenched his fists and his claws appeared a normal size and he tried to reach his arms up to embrace Kagome but was stopped because of the ropes that help him in place.

Kagome felt the movement and pulled herself back and looked to Inuyasha's face. His teeth had returned to his normal size and his eyes had kept their amber colour and his purple markings had vanished. Overcome with joy she hugged the half demon again and Inuyasha couldn't help but smile in response, Sango moved over to them and cut the rope that held Inuyasha and without waiting wrapped his arms around Kagome.

"Well, there are better ways to start a day I suppose." He said and Kagome finally let go, wiping away tears that had fallen in her joy.

They moved back over towards the camp where they had left Kenshin who was still sleeping when Inuyasha pointed something out.

"Do you think he has any spare clothes?" In response to his question everyone looked over to the sleeping swordsman and realised that he obviously didn't and would need to change them or wash the ones he had. In both cases he still needed to wear something else.

A moment passed in silence as they realised the predicament Kenshin would be in when he woke up.

"I think what I'll do is go back to my time and get something for him." Kagome said after a while and everyone looked to her confused. "I know someone that may be be able to get some clothes for him. It's better than nothing I suppose."

"He's not going to wear anything like what you do is he?" Inuyasha said while pointing at her with a sceptical look on his face.

"Of course not! These are for girls! Plus it's a school uniform. I'll be able to get him something like what he wears now." She said before she flew from the group on Kilala.

'_Stupid Inuyasha, as if I would bring back girls clothes for him to wear. I'll go and ask Kenjo if he has anything that he could spare. They look the same size so there shouldn't be any difficulty.'_

Kilala and Kagome soon arrived at the well and Kagome promised she wouldn't be long before she leaped down the well and to her own time.

Once she got to her own time she forgoed saying hello to her family and ran to Kenjo's nearby dojo. When she entered there was another lesson going on and Kenjo was too busy to be able to go over and talk to her. With nothing else to do she waited on the porch for the lesson to finish and took in the yard around her. There didn't seem to be any kind of plants growing instead there was a large sakura tree grown in a corner, the shadow of it almost reaching Kagome, there were no sakura on it as it was not the right season but she imagined it would look lovely when it did, and she remembered back to the time when she had seen Kenshin look at a similar Sakura tree back in the village they had passed through and had wondered what he was thinking about at the time.

"Is there something I can help you with Kagome?" Came a voice behind her, she jumped at the sudden sound and almost thought it to be Kenshin with how similar they sounded before regaining herself and smiled at his concern.

"I was hoping you could, if it's alright?"

"Of course, what is wrong?" He asked, concern etched on his face, his brows furrowed close together in worry to which Kagome blinked at the similarity between him and his old relative, they narrowed further when he didn't respond. "Kagome?" He prompted and she snapped herself out from staring.

"I'm sorry, I still can't get over how much alike the both of you look." She said with a slight nervous laugh, at the her response his gaze softened and smiled.

"I see. So what is it that I can assist with?" He asked.

"Ahh right. I was wondering if you could lend me some clothes?" She asked bluntly and Kenjo eyes widened in utter bafflement.

"I'm afraid I don't think I would have anything suitable for you, perhaps you could ask my wife? She should be able to outfit you with something? Is there an occasion you need to be dressed up for?" Kenjo said not hiding his confusion at the request and Kagome had her turn to look at him baffled before it clicked on what had been misunderstood.

"Oh I'm sorry, the clothes are not meant for me. They are for Kenshin, you seem to be the same size as him, more or less so I thought you'd be able to lend some to him. Of course I won't say I got them from you, maybe my own father or something." Kagome said and understanding came into Kenjo's eyes before he nodded with a smile.

"Ahh of course, I'm sorry for misunderstanding let me just go find something."

Kagome nodded as he walked out of the training room and further into the house. She once again stepped onto the outside porch when a thought came to her.

_I remember the sign outside saying Kamiya Kasshin-Ryu, I wonder if that means it's the same one Kenshin was living with Kaoru or if the family members moved elsewhere, I supposed the building looks old enough. Perhaps I could ask Kenjo' _

She thought to herself when she heard footsteps come up behind her, she turned around and saw that Kenjo had returned and was holding a bundle of clothing. The Kimono on top appeared to be the same dark blue Kenshin had been wearing when he had arrived through the well while the Hakama seemed to be a shade lighter than the ones he was already wearing.

"Wow, they look almost exactly the same." She said in astonishment.

"Well I suppose his taste of clothing didn't change all that much."

"You mean?"

"Yes, he wore these himself at some point in his life. I don't think they are the the same as the ones you are replacing though." Kenjo said with a smile and Kagome just stared at him stunned before she snapped out of it and remembered her thoughts before he had returned.

"I was just wondering if this is the same dojo that Kenshin came to, or if the school has just been moved?" She asked and Kenjo gave her a warm smile.

"No it didn't move Kagome, it is the very same dojo that Kenshin had lived in with Kaoru, as well as the rest of the family that came after them." He said still smiling.

"Wow, to think Kenshin had stayed here, I suppose would have liked to see him more at peace I think, instead of worrying about getting to the war." She said sadly.

"Well you never know." Kenjo said. "You may see him at peace, in time." He continued before offering a smile and a small bow before walking back into the dojo and disappearing out of sight, leaving Kagome on her own on the porch.

"I wonder what that means?" She said to herself before walking out to the streets and made her way back to the well.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope that there's a little more understanding as to why Kenshin was a grumpy guts, there's more to be explained and the explanation might be a little bit ooc (well not completely ooc but I can't explain it without spoiling it) for Kenshin, but it's the only thing plausible to make an excuse for the grouchiness and stuff. But anyways I'll try to update again soon :)**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Here's another chapter, sorry it's not as long as the last one, but I hope you enjoy it anyway :) **_

**Chapter 13**

"Kagome? I thought that was you, why don't you come and eat?"

Kagome was halted by her mothers voice just as she was heading towards the well, she gave her mother an apologetic look and tired to carry on walking before her mother spoke again.

"Is everything okay? Normally you at least come to say hello." She said a little sad and Kagome turned and walked towards her.

"I'm sorry, it's just I need to get back quickly. I only came back to get something." She explained and her mother nodded with a smile.

"Very well then, but you should at least go back with some food." She said before walking back into the house, followed reluctantly by Kagome.

As her mother was sifting through cupboards to find things to eat Kagome decided to replenish her stock on bandages because of how many were used on Kenshin. After her mother returned with more food Kagome got her things and hurried back towards the well.

She soon arrived back in the past and was greeted by Kilala who had reverted back to her smaller form before enlarging it again as Kagome came closer. Without another thought she clambered onto the felines back and they set off back to where they had left Inuyasha and the group.

_Meanwhile…_

"I'm a little worried." Came Sango's voice through the long silence that had settled on the group. "He should have least woken up." She continued while watching Kenshin, Miroku and Inuyasha looked towards the sleeping swordsman unsure of if they should try and wake him or leave him to rest for longer.

"He seems to be sweating a lot." Shippo commented when he moved over to him. "Do you think maybe he's ill?" He asked the group. In response Sango put a hand to Kenshin's forehead.

"He has a fever" She said in slight panic. "Maybe one of his wounds got infected? Should we look?"

"No, we need to wait for Kagome to get back, she's the only one that knows how to use the medicine." Miroku said while Inuyasha just huffed in annoyance.

They remained in a tense silence before they were soon joined by Kagome and Kilala.

"What took you so long?" Inuyasha said angrily, Kagome ignored the question and knelt beside the sleeping Kenshin.

"How is he doing?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Not good, he has a fever, we think one of his wounds might have got infected." Sango answered, Kagome looked up in worry before her and Sango stripped Kenshin of his Kimono and bandages to reveal his wounds, still fresh but no longer bleeding as much as they had.

"Which one could it be?" Kagome asked while digging out an antiseptic spray from her bag.

"I'm not sure." Sango replied. "Perhaps we should just clean them all?" She suggested and looked up to Kagome. The teen nodded grimly before readying the spray towards one of the larger wounds, Inuyasha moving Kenshin's swords out of reach in preparation for what might come.

"This is gonna sting" Kagome said, knowing that the young male could not hear her, then winced as she pushed down the pump, suddenly she jerked back when Kenshin flew awake, hissing in pain and anger, yellow eyes flashing around in confusion, one hand searching for a sword at his hip that was not there.

"Kenshin, please, calm down. It's just disinfectant, we think one of your wounds is infected." Kagome said pleadingly to him. Her words caught his attention and he looked down at his torso, eyes widening in shock to see all of his old wounds once again causing him harm as if they had been made the day before.

"W-What happened?" He asked, his voice was so hoarse and quiet that Kagome almost didn't hear him.

"You don't remember?" Miroku asked. The young male thought for a moment and seemed to shake his head in frustration.

"What's the last thing that you recall?" Sango asked curious.

"The last thing I remember was Inuyasha defeating that demon that had come to attack us, but he looked different. Then everything is just a blur, I don't recall anything else. Other than a feeling of - I don't know how to explain it, like I was there in my head, but I wasn't in control." He looked around and saw completely shocked faces staring back at him "What happened?" He asked again, only more in confusion rather than anger. His eyes no longer yellow, instead a light violet, flicking between each of them waiting for an answer.

"Kenshin, well. That demon attacked yesterday, Inuyasha had lost control, he turned into a human at night remember? Then we found you in the forest and you were bleeding everywhere. You've slept since then. You don't recall any of this?" Kagome asked and Kenshin just shook his head in confusion.

"I don't recall seeing anything, I do remember warning someone though. Saying it was dangerous."

"That was to me." Miroku said and Kenshin's eyes snapped towards the monk. "You said you were trying to keep control, and told me to stay away and then to get help. When we came back you were losing consciousness. I could only presume that was because of your wounds." Kenshin raised his hand to his head as if tired but kept awake, his fingers trailed to his scar and he touched it gingerly before he tried to lift himself to a better seating position but was stopped by Sango.

"It's better not to move, you have a fever and we think it's because one of your wounds are infected." She warned in a gentle voice. He just groaned at the news before Kagome came closer again.

"I have something that can clean the wounds, it should remove the infection, but we don't know which one it is so we have to use it on all of them. So this is going to hurt a lot." Kagome looked at him sternly before asking "Are you ready." He gave a weak nod before Kagome took out the disinfectant again and started spraying, Kenshin arched his back constantly in pain as Kagome would spray the fluid onto each wound. After the front was done they lifted him up to a seating position and continued on his back.

The process was long and painful, both for Kenshin and for the others to watch, Kagome would wince herself occasionally when she came across a particularly large wound and had to spray it, knowing how much pain it would put Kenshin in. After a while Kagome was eventually finished with his torso back and arms when she realised that his Hakama were also red and she looked to him expectantly before he frowned and lifted one pant leg so she could continue her work, only it would be harder because Kenshin would instinctively move his leg back because of the pain and mumble an apology when Kagome would look at him annoyed. It happened again when she resigned herself to keeping a grip on the leg while she sprayed. Which failed as she ended up moving with the leg.

"There has got to be something you can do to stop doing that." She said after she almost fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry, I can't stop them from doing it." He said but couldn't hide his amusement at the continued attempts of trying to clean his leg wounds.

"Oh, I'm glad you find it so funny!" The teen shouted before throwing the can of disinfectant at his head and storming off. Kenshin watched on stunned with the can in his hand, Sango and Miroku had similar expressions as well as Shippo while Inuyasha couldn't hold back his laughter at Kenshin's expression.

"She's mad at me." Kenshin said completely in shock at witnessing the wrath of a female directed at him. "I've never seen anyone be so mad at me before. Apart from master. And a girl. Mad at me." With this Inuyasha exploded in more laughs while Miroku and Sango tried to stifle their own laughter but failed.

"I daresay Kenshin that if she could she would have told you to sit!" Miroku said through his laughter causing more merriment out of the half demon and Sango. Seeing the humour in the situation Kenshin joined them in their laughter before re bandaging the wounds that Kagome had cleaned, and cleaning the ones she had left when she stormed off. He was soon finished and got changed into the clothes that Kagome had retrieved for him. After he was done the group gathered around the fire once more and waited for Kagome to calm down and return to them.

"Kenshin." Miroku started, there was a curious tone in his voice that Kenshin picked up on and looked to him with a small smile.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering if you perhaps have some form of a split personality?" The monk asked, still in a curious tone but Kenshin could distinguish the seriousness behind the question.

"I wouldn't be too fully aware of it if I do. I'm not saying I don't, I have found myself in numerous situations where there have been foes defeated by me but I have little or no recollection of the fight. I know I definitely have a different behaviour or attitude when I am fighting, which may be related. I am assuming you are asking this because of the events of yesterday and last night?"

"Yes. We discovered that you had a sacred jewel shard in your possession when you were in the clearing. We could only assume this had been taken by the demon we had been fighting, when Inuyasha had lost control of himself, there was a fight of sorts between the two of you in which in time you assisted in tieing Inuyasha to a tree." Kenshin looked at Miroku completely confused at hearing everything that had happened before turning a questioning gaze towards Inuyasha for further explanation. "Ah, Inuyasha loses control if his demonic blood gets re awakened if his life is in danger. However on this occasion if was because of a demonic maturity, but because he had lost control you were the only one capable of subduing him. Unfortunately you had got injured in the process, after which you had become more aggressive." Kenshin's brows furrowed as if trying to recall anything of what the monk was telling but not remembering at all.

"Then after we tied Inuyasha up he reverted to his human form because of the new moon, you were with us at the camp when Myoga came." Sango continued and Kenshin flicked his confused gaze to her. "Myoga? The flea? He seems to have run off now, must have been when everything had been going on, he's cowardly like that. You don't remember him at all?" Kenshin just shook his head in response before Sango continued. "You had taken to leaving the camp by then and walked into the forest, we were concerned because you didn't seem to be acting like your normal self, so Miroku decided to follow you."

"That's when I found you in the clearing, the rest we've already told you I suppose." Miroku interjected and Kenshin looked down in confusion, still trying to think and remember. "That's why I asked whether you have a split personality, while still being in battle and having the mindset for it I believe that when you picked up the jewel shard in this state it started to have an affect on your mind and you were unable to revert back to your normal self after the battle was over." Miroku explained.

"But that doesn't explain the reason why his old wounds re-opened." Inuyasha stated, gaining everyone's attention. "I mean I understand the personality thing, especially the not remembering part. But that doesn't tell us why he was covered in blood when we found him."

"I think I may have an explanation." Kenshin said quietly while looking down. "I remember the feeling of fighting with myself, trying to keep control, but along with fighting myself I seemed to be fighting against another power. I can only assume that would have been the jewel shard. I suppose it must have linked itself with the darker personality I have and the strength of it must have been what re opened my wounds."

"That does make sense, but I have never known of a jewel shard harming it's bearer, if anything the purity of it changes with it's holder. At least I think it does, perhaps we should ask Kagome once she comes back." Sango said, in response to hearing her name Inuyasha's ears twitched as if in annoyance before he rose suddenly.

"Speaking of which she's taking too long, you guys wait here I'll go and get her." Everyone nodded and watching him jump away towards the direction Kagome had taken when she had stormed off before sitting in silence.

"Hmm, these are slightly bigger than what I usually wear but they still fit well." Kenshin said with a slight smile gaining Miroku and Sango's attention.

"Ah, Kagome had gone back to her own time to get them, we had actually expected her to come back with some strange clothing. It looks almost exactly like what you were wearing before doesn't it?" Miroku stated casually and Kenshin brows furrowed in thought.

"I wonder if that means these type of clothes are still being worn in the future?" He asked out loud and Miroku and Sango looked at each other, Miroku feeling that he shouldn't have mentioned where Kagome went to get the clothes.

"Perhaps, otherwise how would she have gotten them?" Sango asked without thinking and Kenshin looked up suddenly as if a thought had come to him and seemed to get impatient while looking towards where Inuyasha had sped off to find Kagome. Sango gave an apologetic look to the monk who just shook his head, hoping that Kagome could resolve the issue when she returned.

Not long after the conversation Kenshin saw Inuyasha return, Kagome carried on his back. They stopped in front of the three of them, Shippo moving over from Kilala while Kagome stepped back onto the ground. Without waiting Kenshin moved over towards her.

"Kagome, where did you get these clothes?" Kagome looked frozen for a moment before she gave him a small smile.

"They used to be my fathers. I asked my mother if it would be alright to take them and she said yes. Do you not like them?" She asked, putting a worried tone in her voice while inwardly hoping he would stop asking about them.

"Ah, I apologise I do like them, they are very suited to me in fact. A strange thought had just occurred to me, that's all. I'm sorry for worrying you." He said placing a smile of his own on his face.

"I see, well I'm glad you like them." she said before she walked away and collected her things ready to be back on the road again. Not realising that Kenshin looked on with a saddened expression, as if disappointed with her answer. Inuyasha noticed the look but decided not to comment on it as they started to make their way back to the road.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll try to have another one up soon. Also Jinenji might be making his appearance in the next chapter or so :)**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Here's another update at last. I'm sorry that it has taken me this long to do it, anyways I hope you enjoy :)**_

**Chapter 14**

"Are you sure you are okay to walk?" Kenshin turned to the voice and noticed Sango was looking at him with a concerned expression. "If you like you can ride on Kilala, she wouldn't mind, she seems quite taken with you." She continued while stroking the feline on her shoulder.

"No I'm okay, but thank you Sango-Dono." Sango continued her concerned stare for another moment before she sighed.

"Well if you are sure."

"I am, thank you again."

The group continued on in silence while Kagome matched her pace with Inuyasha's and was casting concerned glances towards him but neither of them said anything.

Shippo who had been sitting on Miroku's shoulder hopped over to Kenshins good one earning the young fox a stunned and confused look, but only for a moment when Shippo cast a nervous smile towards the redhead who gave a hint of a smile back before returning his gaze forward as the group continued walking.

The sun was starting to sink low in the sky with no incident hindering the journey and it was close to evening when Kagome looked back to Kenshin.

"Are we close to a village Kenshin?" She asked. The redhead in question seemed to be snapped away from some thought at the mention of his name and looked around confused for a moment before he noticed the questioning gaze directed to him from Kagome and realised that he had been spoken to.

"Ah, I'm sorry Kagome-Dono. What was it that you asked?" Everyone glanced at him surprised for a moment while Kagome frowned briefly wanting to ask a different question than the first but deciding not to.

"I was wondering if we are near a village or town yet Kenshin." The swordsman took in his surroundings for a moment before looking back to the waiting teen.

"We are not too far but we would not reach there before nightfall. I suggest we find a safe place to camp and we should reach the village by midday tomorrow. If that sounds okay?" He replied with a small smile.

"Sounds good to me." Kagome said cheerfully "Inuyasha?" She asked to the half demon for his agreement, the male just humfed in response before walking towards the treeline to find a safe camping spot.

"Is everything okay Kenshin? You seemed to be in thought about something." The young fox demon asked, who was still resting on the redheads shoulder.

"I'm fine, thank you Shippo, something was just on my mind." Kenshin replied with another smile earning him questioning looks from Sango and Miroku but he paid them no attention and carried on walking until they reached Inuyasha who had found a suitable location with Kagome.

The group soon set to work with setting up the campfire and Kagome started cooking. Unable to resist any longer Sango eventually spoke up.

"So what was on your mind earlier today Kenshin?" She asked. The swordsman looked up and noticed that everyone had stopped what they were doing and was staring at him intently. With a sigh he cast his eyes down to the tea that Kagome had made for him, taking a small sip before he answered.

"I was just pondering what Miroku had said earlier today."

"Ah you mean with the split personality?" Shippo piped up and Kenshin just nodded in agreement while taking another sip of his tea.

"Wait, split personality?" Kagome asked, unaware of the earlier conversation as she had not been there.

"Oh you weren't there when we talked about it." Sango said after noticing the baffled expression on the teens face. "We believe that Kenshin has a split personality.

"Really?" Kagome asked stunned and turned her questioning gaze to the swordsman, her response was a small nod. "Well it's not unheard of I guess, and I suppose it would explain the memory loss."

"That's what we said Kagome." Miroku answered "We were actually wondering if you knew anything more about it? We believe that the jewel shard amplified this condition and because of Kenshin fighting against it resulted in the re-opening of his old injuries."

"I see." Kagome simply stated "I'm sorry but I don't know anything, of course I've heard of split personalities but it's the first time I've seen the jewel shard cause physical harm to someone." She continued.

"Hmm, I suppose it's another mystery to be solved in time. I think the best thing to do is to prevent Kenshin from coming into further contact with any of the jewel shards. Is that agreeable to you Kenshin?" Miroku asked to the young male who just nodded his consent while taking another sip of his tea.

"But still, what had you been wondering about?" Sango asked, not letting her original question get side-lined.

"I was just thinking about the past experiences I've had in the cases of my split personality, I suppose when in the midst of continuous battles I hadn't noticed that such a thing had developed. The only times I can't remember all the details of the fight had been when I was up against particularly skilled foes like the Shinsengumi. I suppose I was trying to think back to when it first happened."

"Hmm, I'm not sure but do you think it may have happened when you first started to fight to kill?" Miroku suggested.

"I suppose, I can't think of any other time it could have happened."

Unable to continue the conversation any further the group settled in silence before Inuyasha dropped from a nearby tree and joined them.

"Hey, Kenshin. Have one of your wounds re-opened?" The sudden question from the half demon earned him some surprised looks which were ultimately ignored.

"I suppose I might have while walking. But how would you know?" Kenshin asked, his face showed his own surprise at the half demons concern but his voice and a faint accusatory tone and he made no move to check any of his wounds.

"I could smell the blood." Inuyasha stated in a matter of fact tone earning him a brief frown from the swordsman who eventually nodded in understanding yet still showing no indication that he was going to treat the re-opened wound.

"Are you not going to take a look Kenshin?" Kagome asked with a usual concerned tone while she reached over to her bag which contained the bandages and disinfectant but Kenshin just raised a hand and shook his head causing the young teen to pause.

"Please there is no need to trouble yourself, the wound is minor and anything that can be done to help it has already been done." Kagome just continued to stare at him for a long moment before she turned a questioning gaze to Inuyasha who just shook his head in response to the silent question and Kagome returned her stare to the swordsman, now holding his eyes with a stern gaze. Kenshin had noticed the exchange between her and the half demon and cast a quick annoyed glance to Inuyasha before looking back to Kagome. "Honestly Kagome-Dono, it is not causing me any trouble." They kept their eyes fixed on each other for another moment before eventually Kagome sighed in defeat.

"Fine, but if it gets worse you should tell us." She said sternly and Kenshin spared an innocent smile and nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long after that Kagome was finished cooking and everyone settled to eat.

"Do you like it Kenshin?" Kagome suddenly asked when they were part way through their meal. The swordsman looked up and smiled innocently again.

"Of course Kagome-Dono, I thank you for the meal." He said before continuing with his meal, the question had earned some confused gazes directed at Kagome who just shuffled uncomfortably under their stares and blushing slightly she scoffed down the rest of her meal, trying to ignore the others. However Inuyasha's questioning gaze held her for longer before he frowned and continued with his own meal.

"If I could ask." Kenshin started, diverting the groups' attention away from the still eating Kagome and to the redhead. "You've mentioned this demon you are chasing called Naraku, I am just slightly curious as to the reason of your pursuit." There was a deathly silence that filled the atmosphere and Kenshin was about to withdraw his question before Miroku spoke up.

"We all have different reasons essentially. I can't speak for the others but the reason why I'm hunting him down is because he has afflicted my family with a cursed wind tunnel in our right hand, which sucks in all that is in its path." Miroku explained while he lifted his right hand which was covered by his beads and cloth. "I suppose it doesn't sound that bad when it's explained like that, however the hole eventually widens until the bearer himself is sucked down it too."

"I see. I'm sorry for asking something so personal. I had not known what he had done." Miroku just shook his head before he kept silent. Another moment passed before Sango spoke up herself.

"I'm hunting him because he turned my little brother against me and my family, as well as the rest of the villagers from where I am from. He still has my brother in his control and it's down to me to get him back." She stated with barely controlled fury in her voice. Without knowing what to say Kenshin remained silent while the atmosphere grew more uncomfortable which stretched on before Inuyasha stood suddenly and walked away from the group, as he did Kagome's expression changed and her head was downcast. Kenshin noticed the transition in the teen and looked to Sango and Miroku but they were wearing their own similar expressions.

"I must truly apologise, I should have known that my question would have brought such terrible memories upon you all." The swordsman said sadly as he remembered his own dark past.

"There is nothing to apologise for" Miroku stated noticing the young mans' own saddened expression and knowing it had nothing to do with what had just been said. "Everyone has things that are difficult to talk about." He said encouragingly, at hearing the words Kenshin was unable to stop himself from reaching up and tracing the scars on his face, still tender to touch due to the reopening of them from before. Everyone noticed but they didn't comment on it, Kenshin soon realised what he was doing and dropped his hand.

"I suppose they do" He agreed quietly and followed Inuyasha's earlier actions and left the group, but didn't take the same direction of the half demon and the group was left in silence.

The sun had fully set and it was getting late when Inuyasha had eventually re-joined them, watching as Kagome, Sango and Miroku were setting out their beds until he noticed that someone was missing.

"Where's Kenshin?" He asked after he looked around the area and seeing no sign of him.

"He took to the forest not too long after you did. It seemed like he remembered something about his past that has upset him." Miroku explained when a knowing expression came onto Inuyasha's face.

"No, I don't think he ever forgets." Inuyasha said quietly but didn't realise that he was overheard by Kagome.

"What do you mean?" She asked, gaining the half demon's attention but Inuyasha just shook his head.

"Sorry Kagome, it's not for me to say anything. You guys stay here, I'll go and get him." He said before sprinting off and leaving a confused Kagome with the others.

"Kenshin!" Inuyasha called when he found the red head. He was rested against the base of a tree, his sword was in its usual position on his shoulder and he was staring out into the distance but didn't seem to be focused on anything in particular but he turned his head when he heard his name being called.

"Is everything alright Inuyasha? You looked upset earlier." Kenshin said in a faraway tone.

"Like you're one to talk, coming all the way out here to mope." That earned him a joyless chuckle and Kenshin looked away once more.

"Like you wasn't doing the same thing." He said and Inuyasha's own face revealed his sadness once more. "I suppose this feeling will get easier to bear, in time. But for now I'll just deal with the pain and fight for the peace the country is crying for." The swordsman said before grabbing his sword and walked back towards the camp followed by Inuyasha.

_**I hope you enjoyed the chapter, as usual I will try to have another one up as soon as I can. I know nothing has really happened in this one, but I'll make sure that something happens in the next :)**_

_**~Killing Reality**_


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